The interview Victor Muller did with Autoline Detroit last week had a few telling moments in it and I thought it wise to bring those into print here on SU, for the benefit of those who haven’t seen the video yet.
Victor spoke briefly about the next model Saab 9-3, due some time in 2012. The dot points:
- Car to be built on a customised Saab version of the existing Epsilon architecture. It will be substantially modified to the point where it’s Saab’s own intellectual property
- Concept engineering is all done
- “A-surfaces” – the outer surfaces, the visuals, are somewhat fluid and still being worked on and influenced by new ownership and by Saab’s own designers, in Trollhattan
- Intends to take it “one notch up” from where it was already, in terms of being bold.
- Will be wider, lower and with a longer wheelbase than the current Saab 9-3
- “By the end of 2012, the Saab 9-5 will be the oldest car in the showroom” – which tells me that this is a MY2013 car that will be released Jul-Sept 2012.
All exciting stuff.
What wasn’t mentioned, of course, are the various body styles that will be available but I will carve out my intestines with a rusty nail if there’s not a true hatch on offer in the next 9-3 range, presumably along with a sedan, wagon and convertible.
