It’s getting a little cooler down in the devil’s dungeon. Hell hasn’t frozen over just yet, but it must have been close.
Along with their peers in other parts of the Swedish press, DI.se attended today’s first day of press drives for the new Saab 9-5. They even sent Håkan ‘downbeat’ Matson (thankyou, Simpsons), who’s been about as a big a critic of Saab as anyone.
Matson essentially sent a cold weather pattern towards Hades when he fired off this positive remark (Googletrans):
“It’s a really good car,” he says. “It is very pleasant to drive, with good steering and good body. It is also remarkably quiet.
DI.se try to set him back on the normal path with some questions to open the door for negative answers:
Saab has some other drawbacks?
……Is the 9-5 good enough to lift Saab?
But Matson is resolute in ambition and continues to portray the car in glowingly neutral, even almost positive terms:
“Yes, that is, of course, the next question (i.e. is it good enough). One can at least say that it is level with the competition and no copy. The car itself is no problem, and Saab has put on quite a defensive target. “
Pigs aren’t flying just yet, nor is Lucifer reaching for a scarf or coat, but a sub-boiling wind just blew through hell.
Could the 9-5 be so good as to even turn a Dagens Industri report around?
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Addendum: Whilst the above was intended to be light-hearted, I shouldn’t look this gift horse in the mouth.
The truth is that Matson has praised the car, which is a good thing and will go a long way to helping perception in the Swedish market. Whether I like him or his general opinion is largely irrelevant at this delicate point in time.
What’s relevant is what he’s going to write about this car and early indications are that he will write that it’s good.
Something to be thankful for.
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