Saab 9-4x spotted in Belgium - again

The 9-4X is a handsome crossover - it will be a success for Saab. And contrary to what most people here think, it will sell just as well in Europe and elsewhere as it will in the U.S. and Canada.

+1 Kroum
+1 Swade
Euro market will be as important & good
as US for this kind vehicle. Only they will
make smaller engines and offer TDI engines
for EU.
SUV cars are gaining in EU for last 10 years or so.
Just look at all the rest of car company's in EU.
Almost everybody has at least 1.
And there is more profit on this kind of vehicle.
My only concern is that they don't have 6 cylinders
Turbo Diesel engine for this hevy SUV.

Even if people think its not Saab-ish enough, or that Saab shouldn't build 4WDs, it is vital to the profitability of the brand.
Look and Porsche and the Cayenne. It accounts for HALF of Porsche sales around the world.

Lance Cole has written (I thing I understood him right) that Saab doesn't need a SUV/Crossover/off-road vehicle.
I think he's wrong at this point. These days if you are a premium make you must have one or two "off road" models.
I believe Koenigsegg people read this page so we should - as Saab owners, maniacs and potential customers give them feedback of what we expect our favourite car to be like in future. My idea on future models is that they should be 3 "classes" (not models). I would name them 90,900 and 9000 just to show that they're different from GM's 9-something.
90 could be an entry model (9-1?) and Lace was right it could be the rally one. The cars driven by Carlsson in rallies were as we know people's cars rather than executive sedans. This could also go as a cabrio.
900 should be like 9-3. a family hatchback to compete with Audi A4. Available also as Estate, cabrio and 900X - a SUV
9000 -like the old 9000 - large hatchback as a base + 9000CD a sedan for people who due to their occupation cannot drive hatchbacks. Here we could have the 9000X. It should be the model able to compete with cayenne and touareg.
Saab must come back to the idea of hatchback as among its other functions it is a family car and it must be able to carry the furniture to childrens' room home (from IKEA 9:-) if needed. When my Saab was destroyed in an accident and I thought of buying a Volvo all my family said that "Saab or nothing".
I am lucky to drive an old 9000 (writing lucky as I had luck to buy well mantained model that I hope will survive until the first K-Saabs are in the market). When I saw this car for the first time I was impressed by one thing - its versatility. 9000 can be depending on your needs a family, car, a "minivan", a businessman means of transport and a "racing"car. You buy one car instead of three... I cannot think of any other car that can be such universal.....apart from Porsche Cayenne and VW Touareg. These two have not only 9000's features mentioned above but also a real off road ability.
I think the upper class off-roader made by Saab must arrive in the near future. Just for people who want to have one car for all purposes.
Just one more thing. I know it is maybe a comment to a different article but once having a piece of time to write I am trying to write all that came to my mind during the last weeks. I think Koenigsegg people should care about Quality of product more than the other manufacturers are doing now. It seems nothing new but I write this as I am disgusted with the way carmakers treat their customers. We are not the buyers of a final product byt the test-drivers. If the tests go bad, thousands of cars are asked back to dealers for a service campaign. Saab must be different. It must be properly designed and tested for hundred thousands miles (see a beautiful film on 9000 project on saabhistory pages - it took 10 years of work until they showed the car to the public and millions miles of driving all over the world). I might be wrong but I think, we Saab lovers are not the people who expect a new model of Saab every 3 years but are able to wait 10-15 years for another unusual machine. (It is possible to make a car that thanks to its style is time resistent). Koenigsegg will have not propably enough money to introduce 3 new models every 3-4 years but if they do it in a "normal" Saab's frequency, but then sell a car that was factory tested, opposite to the rest of carmakers, they will succeed (we will succeed!!!)

Good thoughts there, Kuba.

I'm not sure they'll go back to a 90/900/9000 naming scheme, primarily because is sounds a little old-hat these days. But I think it'd be good to come up with some sort of new numeric scheme.

I noted Lance's comments about the 9-4x in his piece and I thought about including a disclaimer as they don't concur with my own. It was such a superb piece all round, though, that I didn't want to embellish it in any way, so I left it as is.

I think the 9-4x is going to be a great vehicle and more successful than we currently give it credit for.

It will be a bit hit. Go to any ski resorts and see how many SUV you see. And people want to downsize it. Look at Nissan Qas...., its a huge seller, and most of them without 4x4.

Hi Denis,
I think even if SAAB gets a V6 Diesel for the 9-5 it will be complicated to get the engine to Mexico and mounted into the 9-4X.

To the article at Autoscoop (with a little help of Googletrans)

The acceleration was very impresive, and the Engine sounded "like a V8".

I expect it, as the guys at Autoscoop, to not be a V8, but is like the older 99 Turbo.
It performs like a V8, feels like a V8 but has the better mileage of a V6. :)
SAAB-way !!!

It's so good to get some spy shots again. In all the Saab - Koenigsegg noise, I was starting to miss the thrill of some car rumors and spy shots :)

I'm all for a Saab SUV, certainly in the Nordic countries in the winters there might often be a real need for 4x4 capabilities. Whatever ones thoughts are about the 9-7X; it CAN get you there in the winter when the going gets tough...!
Ofcourse I'm looking forward to a V6 turbo 9-4X Aero !

Quite obviously, the idea behind the 9-3 and 9-5 designation was aiming at BMW and their 3 and 5 series, which shows again how hard GM tried to position SAAB in the European premium segment.

I think the 9-4X comes a little late, as within the SUV segment downsizing seems to be the name of the game, with both Audi and BMW about to take the step to B-segment, close to which VW - without telling anybody so - have already positioned the Tiguan - a car with a concept so perfectly aiming at the customers that it is selling like warm bread in many European countries.

The 9-4X is too large for this segment, and it seems to be even larger than the Volvo XC60, which is one of the new stars among midsize SUVs.

What is more, it seems than in 2010, the 9-4x will be available with V6 petrol engines only, which will make it hard to sell it in Europe. Without 4-cylinder petrol and diesel drivetrains the 9-4X is likely to make a rather marginal appearance on the European market, which is a pity because it is a very nice looking car - very sportive, in fact, and very SAAB.
In Europe, as opposed to the U.S., it will be quite expensive, which will make it even harder to compete with the formidable Audi Q5 - and with a whole bunch of much less expensive European and Asian SUVs that are already dog-fighting for market shares.

Personally, I think the 9-4X will need more economical engines and an outstanding marketing concept to be able to perform successfully in Europe, but you never know - it can well be a big surprise for everyone.

Saab should stay with the "exponent" name-scheme IMHO. It's fairly intuitive and there's room for the whole model range.

The 90/900/9000 sequence only gives you three slots. And in the US, Audi may still have the trademark rights to the "90" designation -- the Saab 90 was never sold here. IIRC Peugeot owns the rights to car names designated "90x" as well.

Adopting the current naming scheme is one thing that Saab did right in the GM years.

I personally think it would be branding suicide right now to ditch the 9's moniker. It would be like Audi going with something else besides "A". I think it's also false about the power-train for Europe as well. I think as it stands, Europe is the only market that is getting the 4 cyl engine. I for one think the size of this thing won't matter if the performance and handling of this vehicle feel like you are driving a more adept car. What will really make this thing soar is of course the pricing but a Hybrid version that returns excellent fuel mileage (not just some 3-5 miles better but extensive)might be more important for Saab than even the 9-1 at this point. And I only say this because the 9-4x is so far in development and ready to be released as we speak. No one has this category sewn up and it may be where Saab's bread and butter could come from. People don't like the ideas of SUV's because they have horrible fuel mileage. But if Saab could throw a major wrench in this it would do wonders. A SUV that gets 27-38mpg would be instantly insane.

OK so I just read up on the mpg numbers for the Ford Escape hybrid and Saab's would have to somewhere close or better but you can get my drift with this one!!

It's not only the poorer gas mileage that these vehicles get that turns me off, it's also the (boring) looks and the size/height. Trying to see around one can be a nightmare.
How many are used off-road? Probably almost none. How often is that extra space used? Why not rent such a vehicle (or borrow the neighbour's and let him/her suffer the depreciation) for those few occasions that such a vehicle is actually required.
Everytime I see/hear these vehicles referred to as a "car", I cringe. All I see is unnecessary truck.
Find your own road. Don't be a sheep. A 9-3SC or 9-5SC will do the job in style and you'll look a whole lot smarter too.

I think that's the argument though. The SUV is for those people that like a level of refinement, don't necessarily want a truck but need more clearance and space than a car can give. A lot of women like the idea of SUV's because the mindset you feel safer in it, sitting up higher versus being in a much lower car setting. I have to tell you, I live in Rochester,NY and I'm tired of getting those snowstorms that are just too much for my 9-3 to handle. The 9-3 is excellent in low snow and icy conditions. But it's no match for when the snow is up to your front bumper and the plows haven't come out yet. So I myself am kinda looking forward to the 9-4x. I'm not sure if anyone has read it but last weeks edition of AutoCar has a really good spread on Saab with some tidbits that I haven't really heard about before. It's an interesting read and more space than I've ever seen one Mag give to Saab before.