The Saab 9-8 Sports Saloon
April 12, 2012 in News
From Saab’s bankruptcy documentation a number of attachments can be found, one interesting item concerns registered names. And in that list of names the Saab 9-8 can be found.
According to a source to SaabsUnited the 9-8 was supposed to be an Audi A8 type of sports saloon. A serious big luxury car which could compete at the very top level. Other cars in that segment are the BMW 7-series, Mercedes-Benz S-class, Jaguar XJ and Lexus LS430.
EuroDriver said on April 12, 2012
I also read elsewhere of 9-6, and 9-7 models being reported.
zippy said on April 12, 2012
xelav said on April 12, 2012
Hopefully they also registered 9-0 and 9-1. Saab needs a small car that sells like a cold beer in the dessert. Like the Mini.
ryanonsrc said on April 12, 2012
Wow, that would have been off-the-charts: awesome
Kyle Hudson said on April 12, 2012
I KNEW IT WOULD BE AN A8 KILLER! man I am good! Hopefully the new buyer will continue this concept
Kyle Merrihew said on April 12, 2012
I would like to think so! Unfortunately, I don’t think many of the current models will survive through this process when they are restarted (thinking optimistically
). But we should all keep our fingers crossed!
rafael guerra said on April 13, 2012
this project for sure has a GM licenses and Jim Cain said in his last declaration:
we are not interested in share or offer for sale our “technology” to foreign companies . this is the real world
big corporations have the final decisions in saab destiny
Kyle Hudson said on April 15, 2012
Well it obviously didnt do them any good, seeing how they did not produce it at all xD
Piet-Hein S. said on April 12, 2012
i think Saab is a similar company as FIAT: they got big with small cars. FIATs Uno/Panda sold like mad, whereas the Croma was a failure. so: Saab should make a small(er) (96/90/99-sized) car. not battle ships like the NG9-5.
900_S said on April 12, 2012
Agreed.
Though I’d understand if they wanted to expand after they became more established. I don’t know how big the market is for the bigger luxury cars, but I just don’t see Saab pulling people away from the sort of European Cadillacs/Buicks/Oldsmobiles. The 9-4X seemed to be well-liked and might have sold well but I think it was because it was in a utilitarian market segment and seemed to offer more than the typical CUV/SUV. The big luxury cars seem to be more of an extravagance, which doesn’t quite fit the Saab profile. Just my opinions.
terry9000k said on April 12, 2012
if your ID is correct, then you have a 9000 CDE, which is virtually the same size as a 9.5.
Saab was quite successful with the 900 & certainly the 9000. Fiat [like Peugeot {404 on} today ] do not seem to successful with larger cars.
A 9.8 would have been a new size for SAAB, and maybe a little to large, but, also this size of car is not a volume seller, par say.
Piet-Hein S. said on April 13, 2012
yes, i DO have a 9k CD, which is 4m90-ish. the NG9-5 is 5m+. you have a point, there.
but somehow a 9k CD doesn’t look 5m long, or doesn’t look ‘massive’ (to me…). a NG9-5 gives the impression that is longer than 5m (and massive). and with fuel prices reaching € 1,90 per litre, it would be better to produce small, fuel economic cars.
just my thoughts
Doctor Donk said on April 12, 2012
Wow great car. I will start collect money for my addition car to 9-4.
Quijote said on April 12, 2012
Who cares?! When is the news we’re all waiting for coming? First end of Jan, then Feb, then March… now end of June. Not very convincing, unfortunately.
MeanSabean said on April 12, 2012
I agree this news is or would be only interesting if Saab as we know it survives!
theSandySaab said on April 12, 2012
Yes, while new models would be nice, I have started breathing again, and must realize there will be no new Saabs for me purchase within the foreseeable future. SO, I have decided to get a reasonably new vert, hopefully a 2008 Aero (can’t find any decent 2.0T) facelfted with the amazing (but thirsty) V6. If Saabs where coming off the production line I would have waited for my finances to improve, but now I will have to try to grab the opportunity…
How about you? Is it time grab the Saab of your dream before it is too late???
Marque said on April 12, 2012
It’s always a good time and a great idea to buy a 2008 convertible! Myself would do the same if I could. And as far as we just learned, parts production for the 9-3 should not be a problem for the future (cf. “the 9-3 is more or less free for use”).
KoGa said on April 12, 2012
Unbelievable amount of information in those documents…
Timeshifter said on April 12, 2012
Hahahaaaaa….
Smithy said on April 12, 2012
Hello!? You don’t need mega fancy secret documents to know what brands they’ve registered. Lookie here: http://www.121.nu/onetoone/foretag/saab-automobile-aktiebolag-C2E1/varumarken
Tim said on April 13, 2012
Interesting! =)
Thorfinn said on April 12, 2012
When SAAB’s main product was the (original) 95 and 96, the 99 seemed big and exotic. It was a fantastic success. Then the 900 seemed big…and the 9000 seemed enormous. All winners. There is no logical reason for a mature car manufacturer to stick to one size range.
And if the 9-8 had no crappy GM poison in its DNA….
Olav said on April 13, 2012
Yeah, right. A SAAB 9-8 which was supposed to be an Audi A8 type of sports saloon. A serious big luxury car which could compete at the very top level. Other cars in that segment are the BMW 7-series, Mercedes-Benz S-class, Jaguar XJ and Lexus LS430 type of sports saloon. Jeez!
I really hope this was taken out of some context and far away from SAAB’s primary targets. SAAB, if they were alive today, should have focused on midsize and small, quirky, practical and sporty cars and not giant luxury cars.
Oh well, my five cents…..
ivo 71 said on April 13, 2012
If all had gone well, why shouldn’t Saab offer a luxury-segment vehicle? They did before. The 9000 was positioned against the S-Class and the 7-Series as well. And they sold quite a few of those. Damn good cars, too. I drive one and enjoy doing it every day.
Ivo
Olav said on April 13, 2012
Absolutely, but as we all know SAAB hasn’t done well. And with their low volumes and -capacity I think a high focus on bread and butter models should have been the primary target. If having great success with a b&b model or two, then a big luxury car could be born.
Oh well, the most important issue now is a jumpstart of SAAB.
derek said on April 13, 2012
It could have been a great line-up. Allow me to imagine, injecting my own guesses….
9-1 smaller than a 9-3
9-2X 9-3 based crossover
9-3 Phoenix architecture – 3 door, 4 door, 5 door, wagon, cabriolet
9-5 current 9-5
9-6X SUV replacing the 9-4X
9-7 Sonett, possibly based on the Phoenix architecture
9-8 Audi A8 size
9-9 supercar similar to a Spyker or Koenigsegg
If more models were made, there could be a….
9-E electric
9-F bigger electric
9-Z million euro car
900_S said on April 13, 2012
Haha, not bad!
Though I’d put the Sonett in the 9-1 or 9-2/X spot. And I wouldn’t ‘replace’ the 9-4X with an SUV, I’d make another CUV like the GM-based 9-4X. Really though the numbers don’t need to all be filled out, haha. Though I do like the idea a Saab super car, and a Saab 9-E–both of which seem almost laughably irrelevant at this point.
Good job though
David-SAAB said on April 13, 2012
No doubt this car would be beautiful. I think new Saab should concentrate all efforts on 9-1, 9-2, 9-3 maybe 9-4 cars for at least the first 10 years before anything as ambitious is looked seriously at. This end of the market is very small and discerning, and the Mercedes-Benz S-Class outsells 2 to 1 in this sector. It would be very hard to beat. Sure Saab could do it, but baby steps first!
SaabTurbo said on April 13, 2012
Saab should definitely go to smaller models like the 9-1 as much as they should go to big luxurious like the 9-8. I would love to see however Saab create a rival to the mercedes cls and audi a-7, maybe 9-7, reasonably priced, with a hatchback and a fantastic look. Motorisation would start with 4 cylindre 2 liter turbo (220hp) and to complete the top of the range, it would be a new designed saab v6 turbocharged (320hp) , with aero trim. Hirsch could even be added to the catalogue as a sort of rival for “amg”, although 514 horsepowers is stupid. 380 would be perfect.
I know, I’m dreaming, but that’s what cars are about.
Brent McCracken said on April 13, 2012
Audi have increased their model lineup from the A1 up to the A8 and Q3 to Q7 and in New Zealand they don’t have any shortage of customers. I’m not sure how many marques could survive in the world with this size of a lineup.
I can’t find any brand new right hand drive Saabs for sale
David-SAAB said on April 13, 2012
All you have to do is check the model offer from the other Germans – BMW & Mercedes-Benz, The kings of available models. On last count, Mercedes-Benz had 24 different model/body designs, with a myriad of engine and gearbox configurations based on 7 modular platforms. And I’m sure BMW would be very similar.
tomas said on April 13, 2012
Any of these docus available online?
xelav said on April 13, 2012
I’m curious what engines they had in mind for those big cars . A 4 cylinder turbo would me hilarious ,and an ancient fiat diesel 1,9l also. Bring in the V8 from Volvo /Yamaha! And add a big turbo!
Gustaf said on April 13, 2012
Well, back in 2006 some people had a lot of ideas of new models http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f11/gmis-revitalization-action-dream-saab-lineup-40042/
jagoblu said on April 13, 2012
If only what a line up
witek said on April 13, 2012
SAAB just simply register all possible combination of names for their cars. 9-1 through 9-8. i wonder why the skipped 9-9. But anyway to be part of lux (bmw 7, mb s-klasse and a8) you have to have a 8 cylinder engine. 8 cylinder from trollbalzer(9-7x) ???. put two 4 cylinder 2.0t and daaaamn! with some hirsch magic on top and boom.
w.
ivo 71 said on April 13, 2012
Most S-Class, Jags and 7-series are 6-cylinders.
Ivo
RS said on April 13, 2012
Ivo, isn’t Saab supposed to be the quirky brand amongst the mass producers?
Quixcube said on April 13, 2012
Absolutely. Saab could have 6 cylinders under the hood up front, then 1 cylinder at each of the rear wheels with an electric motor in a hybrid setup. That’s quirky.
Doctor Donk said on April 13, 2012
But top level of 9-8 must be V12
witek said on April 13, 2012
And a hole cut in the front seast and for the rear passengers as well to keep pedaling in case when you run out of gas like flinstones family. That’s beyond quirky, that yabadadooooooo!:)
AndOne said on April 14, 2012
So many good ideas but not so many car options in production. Very very sad.
Philipeimac said on April 14, 2012
Reserving all combinations of names using 9- has nothing very surprising. It is famous that Peugeot did it for ages with the central “0″ to prevent other car makers use it. This is why the Porsche 911 is nolonger a 901.
Regarding the 9-8, Pang-Da and Yougmann wanted to developp a upper class sedan bigger than the 9-5. Now considering the worlwide market and the main competitors of Saab, if I can understand such big car can be relevant in China, Saab’s urgent need was on the other hand to replace the old 9-3 and to downsize with a 9-1 like Audi (A1), BMW (1 range), Mercedes (A class) or Volvo (C30) already did.
Saab main problem as to be profitable and it sounds evident Audi is not profitable because of the A8 but because of the other ranges.