More stories are emerging in the mainstream media from the Saab 9-5 Euro roadshow events in England this week. It seems they’ve wisely used one of the shows as a press event rather than just a dealer/VIP event.
WhatCar have a pair of new articles based on their attendance. One of them is all about the new 9-5:
Distinctive and different – the 9-5 is a fine start to Saab’s new future
…..and the other is about Saab in general, which what I’d like to focus on here. When I saw a reference to a soon-coming Saab 9-3 in a Detroit news article I thought it was a typo. Perhaps not, as WhatCar mention this as well:
Small hatchbacks, hybrids and electric cars will all play a part in the future of newly liberated Saab.
The first of them is unlikely to be seen until at least late 2011, however. Replacements for the 9-5 saloon and estate, plus a new 9-3 and a compact SUV to be called the 9-4X will keep the company busy over the next 18 months.
They’re certainly making all the right noises. Small hatchbacks and a company busy in development for 18 months. That’s the sort of thing I like to hear.
Can do the new 9-3 that quickly, however?
My mail is the proposed 9-3 design that came from Germany as part of the “showroom of the future” is being dramatically reworked (read: discarded) but I guess that doesn’t necessarily mean that the whole car is being done from scratch.
The car will still most likely be built on GM’s new Delta architecture, which is now in use on the new Astra so what we’re looking at is a new skin and an appropriate infusion of Saab technology underneath and inside.
They know they need it and it sounds like they’re working feverishly at doing it.
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