UPDATE: I’ve changed the text with the official Press-release from Saab UK.
January 19, 2011
——
All-new Saab 9-5 SportWagon to Debut at Geneva
• Next step in Saab’s biggest-ever new product offensive
• Distinctive alternative choice in premium estate segment
• Styling carries forward 9-5 saloon’s bold design language
• Order book opens in Spring, first customer deliveries from September
Trollhättan, Sweden: Saab Automobile takes the next step in the biggest new product offensive in its history when the much-awaited 9-5 SportWagon is unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show.
Sleek and fun-to-drive, the SportWagon adds versatility to the widely acclaimed attributes of the 9-5 saloon and will bring a distinctive, alternative choice to the premium large estate segment.
It shares the saloon’s bold, AeroX-inspired looks and features an extended, falling roof-line which culminates in a steeply raked rear screen flanked by signature Saab ‘wraparound’ window glazing. The result is an imposing body with a low stance and a dynamic, visual appeal that concedes nothing to the requirements of load-carrying.
Smart cargo handling features include an adaptable multi-fold floor, flexible U-rail load space configuration and under-floor stowage with a sealed wet storage compartment. A programmable, powered tailgate is also available.
Backed by the same all-turbo petrol and diesel powertrain line-up as the 9-5 saloon, the SportWagon includes Saab’s industry-leading XWD all-wheel-drive system and advanced features such as: Saab DriveSense adaptive chassis control, adaptive cruise control (late 2012), Bi-Xenon SmartBeam adaptive lighting, keyless entry and starting, tri-zone air conditioning and a Head-up Display which projects information, aircraft-style in the windshield.
The order book for the SportWagon opens in Spring, with first customer deliveries to follow from September. It will significantly broaden the appeal of the new 9-5 range in a segment where Saab, with its tradition for designing versatile vehicles, has enjoyed estate sales volumes on a par with saloon levels.
—
Red J here
The Swedish press release says that the order books will open from mid April, and the first deliveries will be in August. Difeerent markets will have different delivery dates.
—
“The launch of the 9-5 SportWagon is a much-awaited next step in the roll-out of our new product offensive,” says Saab Automobile CEO Jan Åke Jonsson. “It will take Saab back into the large estate segment where we have established a strong presence in many key markets with our previous offering.”
Sporty character
Designed in parallel with the saloon, the 9-5 SportWagon shares the same bold frontal styling and adds a swept, ‘wraparound’ rear window graphic. This echoes the 9-5’s signature frontal theme and gives the SportWagon its own distinctive identity. The dramatic, sweeping roof-line is extended by a deep rear spoiler integrated into the top of the tailgate. Ultra-slim roof rails that blend into the car’s svelte silhoutte are fitted as standard.
Signature Saab themes, such as the strong C-pillar with its hockey stick extension of the belt-line, are combined with a prominent rear shoulder contour to give the SportWagon a muscular and dynamic stance.
The tailgate is raked forward to underline the car’s dynamic character. It features a full-width ‘ice-block’ rear light bar which wraps into light units at either side, continuing a new signature Saab styling theme first seen on the 9-5 saloon and 9-4X crossover.
Dynamic and functional
The deep cargo deck is fully carpeted and optimized for space and ease-of-use. The 60/40 split rear seatbacks fold down almost completely flat without having to reposition the seat squab or remove the head restraints. Careful attention to soundproofing in the rear bodywork attenuates noise, vibration and resonance so that occupants enjoy a level of interior refinement similar to that of the saloon.
With the seatbacks lowered, the cargo deck is almost two metres long (1,962 mm) and offers an adaptable load capacity of up to 1,600 liters (527 litres, rear seats up). The side walls are completely flat and upright, creating a clean, open space without any hard-to-use corners or rear wheel-arch intrusions. Compartments in the side walls offer convenient stowage for small items. Four tie-down loops and a 12-volt power outlet also come as standard.
An optional, U-shaped track around the outside of the floor provides flexible space configuration. As in the 9-5 saloon, it carries an adaptable, telescopic dividing rail which allows the cargo deck to be split as required so that different sized items can be separated and kept in place.
The floor, with a signature Saab aircraft-shaped handle, folds back in steps to access under-floor storage, with a sub-floor 65 mm below the main floor height – ideal for the separate stowage of flat or small items.
A pull-out support arm can be slotted in place to keep the folded floor in a fixed position. This provides further support for items stored in the under-floor recess, as a flexible alternative to using the entire cargo deck.
The underside of the floor has two fittings for flat stowage of the U-rail divider. They also carry hooks that can be used to organize bags, for example. A waterproof plastic liner, available as an option, can be dropped into the recess to provide a separate wet storage area for sports equipment, outdoor clothing or muddy boots.
Smart tailgate
For additional convenience, the tailgate is available with a remotely-controlled, electric power operation. It can be fully opened and closed via a rotary knob in the driver’s door or a button on the car’s key fob. A touch pad on the outside of the tailgate, above the number plate, also triggers powered opening and closing.
A programmable mode can be used to raise the tailgate to a lower position if there is restricted clearance overhead, such as inside a garage. The opening height is pre-set via the rotary knob, which can also disable the powered function.
For ease of loading, the tailgate opens down to bumper level with a lift-over height of only 648 mm. The cargo deck floor is also flush with the tailgate opening to facilitate sliding heavy loads inside. A down-lighter in the tailgate and small sidewall lights provide excellent illumination of the load space at night.
A retracting cargo cover can also be slotted into lugs in the sidewalls immediately behind the rear seats. It keeps items out of sight and includes a convenient one-touch action which allows the ends of the locating bar to slide up channels on the inside of the D-pillars for convenient access to the cargo deck.
Red J
Terrific!
We’re all verily curious.
😀
That’s “Gentlemen” by the way… 😉
I was a little bit nervous 😉
Yes indeed I can easily understand that you were nervous
Sounds fantastic, bring on the pics
This thread is worthless without pics! 😀
(I have been waiting for this announcement quite some time…)
It seems that they have the same type of cargo cover as in the 9-3. Having owned both a og 9-5 SC and a 9-3 SC I must say that both types of cargo cover have it’s advantages. Even if I would go for the og 9-5 type for any day in the week except when I suddenly need to transport something big. Because then the bulky hard cover will drive you crazy. “A retracting cargo cover can also be slotted into lugs in the sidewalls immediately behind the rear seats. It keeps items out of sight and includes a… Read more »
Wonderful news!! Cant wait for the pictures 😀
Yeah!
What the “peep” are the spies doing these days?
🙂
Spy pics? Spy pics? Spy pics? Spy pics? Spy pics? Spy pics? Spy pics? Spy pics?
🙂
+1 !!!! 😀
Today the F5 key (update key) on my keyboard may very well be worn out! 🙂
Yep, here as well. Do you know anyone who sells only F5-buttons? (It’s the one button I need as new after today, not the entire keyboard…)
I am sure it has gotten rusty since last January!
Ooooh, thrilling!!! This IS the product that many markets have been waiting for. Both the BioPower and diesel offerings will sell well in Sweden and IF a sub 120gCO2/km enginge would be presented.. Well then Saab is back as a Clear No2 in sales here on home turf.
I believe Saab will soon have their biggest year ever.
Been looking forwards to this so extremely much!
Cheers/Tom
Saabsunited is KILLING ME!!!!!!! Or at least my focus that should be on work right now.. 😀
you’re not alone…. work is falling behind just as I type this 🙂
Reading about Project Management suddenly got a whole lot less interesting, and I’m having serious problems with concentrating!
Yeah, yeah, yeah!
That’s what I’ve been waiting for (and expecting to happen!).
Let the hours pass swiftly!
Red J teases us with promises of pictures then fails to deliver. Sneaky Swede! 😉
F5-F5-F5-F5 etc etc etc
Waiting, waiting… This is my next car…
Extremely exciting, now only the pictures are missing! 😀
It seems like the 9-5 Sc will be a really big Estate.
Which is 1960 mm, almost 2 meters.
In comparison:
Saab 1960
Mercedes 1825 mm
Volvo 1878 mm
BMW n/a
Audi 1941 mm
SuperB n/a
That was really good!!! As a family-man I can not get enough of space.
How many liters does it take with the back seats in the upright position?
/ TL
526 l in upright position and a maximum capacity of 1585 l with the rear seats folded down.
That is OK, but not as fantastic as the length of the space with folded back seats.
Were the f… is the pictures!!! (sorry lost my nerve there) 🙂
That length is great, but can we have removable rear seat squabs, as featured in my old W124 Mercedes estate, to allow another 200-300mm of length? I miss that particular feature every time I have to put something long in my car, and it is pretty simple to engineer!
What’s more, it would even seem to be a useful Estate (as opposite to the ‘lifestyle wagons’ by BMW and such), given the ‘flush floor’ and the fully vertical sides without any intruding whell arches and similar. If it can accommodate a cube of 1x1x1 metre then it can even be registered as a ‘light van’ (grijs kenteken) in the Netherlands, which may take off about 40% off the sticker price since you then wouldn’t have to pay the ridiculous ‘luxury vehicle tax’ we have had imposed on us here. Now THAT would be a real sales boost,
Ivo
I’ve been gone from The Netherlands for a while already, but do you still have to paint the rear windows gray when registering a ‘grijs kenteken’ vehicle?
Wish that were all you have to comply with to save a buck these days, Gerrit… You really have to nearly re-build the car to make it into a ‘bestelauto’ (small commercial van). You need to a. remove the rear seats and either remove the fixing points or weld a plate over them or leave the rear seating arrangement in place and create a (wooden) fixed division (with a glazed window in it to be able to use your rear-view mirror) between the front seats and the cargo space. That works with vans (they call them ‘aannemersuitvoering’ or ‘contractors’ vans’… Read more »
That sounds conservative. They probably rolled the front seats aaaall the way to the back (quite a distance!) and then lowered them to the max.
If I could fit a 2m long bed in the back of my sedan, then 1960mm sounds several centimeters too short.
WE WANT PICTURES! 😀
The press release says the cargo capacity in the new 9-5 is 56 cubic feet with the seats down. This is considerably less than the 73 cubic feet in the og 9-5. Am I missing something?
I think it depends how it’s measured, some measure to the glass etc., but that isn’t always correct. Given the size of the car, it must be pretty big inside, unless they’ve gone to town with the trim inside to give it all a ‘squared off’ look, which would be a shame – as that’s for Audi’s. And new Volvo’s 🙁
The flat sides sound great, but the wheel wells (arches) are just hidden behind a front with cubbyholes in it. Maybe that takes off a couple of cubic feet? Plus that underneath the flat cargo floor there is more space that is not directly taken into account.
aeroottawa,
from the OG 9-5 price list I have in front of me.
Trunk volume 416 l / 1490 l (14.7 cu ft / 52.6 cu ft)
Maximum trunk depth: 1.774 mm (68.9 in)
Fantastic news! I can’t wait to see one in person! This is great news for Saab. More new models = more curiosity and more media coverage. If only they could get them in dealers today! The 9-4x and the 9-5SC can not get here soon enough!
The fact that there are no Spy-shots of this Saab 95 Combi is remarkable. I too wait with baited breath, as this type of utility will be a huge seller, a feature which the Buick Lacrosse does not have.
The fact that there are no Spy-shots of this is remarkable. I too wait with baited breath, as this type of utility will be a huge seller, a feature which the Buick Lacrosse does not have.
Somebody wake Swade!
It is 2 am Dowm Under, let the guy sleep at least until there are pictures to see.
I do not believe he will be able to got back to sleep after these news… 🙂
1st He knows about the news
2nd I think he has already seen the prototype.
Swade is always one step ahead of us 😉
I agree with the sentiment, but I feel that his is actually more like 72 steps ahead of us.
Let the guy sleep the whole night then, and he will have nice breakfast entertainment reading the comments from us more ordinary saab nuts… 🙂
I guess he doesn’t sleep …Waiting for the pictures like all of us .I’m really excited !!!
The Google-trans reads like the earlier US magazine ads!… The new Saab 9-5 is a nice car. Beautiful because well-designed, beautiful because with a good value for money, because aesthetically beautiful original compared to the competition, beautiful because it initiates probably the true return of the manufacturer at the front of the stage and despite many financial vicissitudes. The Saab 9-5 is beautiful and like all beautiful, she knows how to be desired. Indeed, the first official information and images of declination wagon, called Estate of 9-5, were scheduled for today 13h, but it will have to wait a bit.… Read more »
Lol!!! 😀
Maybe that’s how they were created?
This absolutely thrilling..I just can´t wait…hurry up
It just hit me that this is the 3rd release in less than a year – amazing what this company has achieved in only 12 month.
Pics:
http://www.automotorsport.se/news/22131/saab-9-5-sportcombi–snart-%C3%A4r-den-h%C3%A4r/
Non confirmed as of yet…
Text under pics says:
Vi tror att Saab 9-5 SportCombi ser ut ungefär så här, men säkra är vi inte ännu då Saab fortfarande inte släppt sina officiella bilder. Den här bilden härrör från en intern visning och detaljer kan ha ändrats sedan dess.
We [AMS] believe that 9-5 SportCombi will look close to this, but we’re not certain given that SAAB has not released official pictures. The picture is from an internal display and details could have been changed since then.
I think it’s an age old picture, near two years old.
The Swedish “Vi Bilägare” have their pic on the frontpage and here:
http://www.vibilagare.se/nyheter/saab-95-sportcombi-nu-ar-den-har-29663
They’re not saying how official their picture is though. But it looks beauutiful!
well, same picture as ams.se
You could have a first, early look here:
http://www.automotorsport.se/news/22131/saab-9-5-sportcombi–snart-%C3%A4r-den-h%C3%A4r/
I’m confused. What’s new here? We already knew that the 9-5 SC would be shown in Geneva. What does it mean that it will “be presented” at 1700 CET? Info about the model is already given in the text above, so no one needs to keep reloading in anticipation of that. Is it just that there will be pictures that’s gotten everyone so excited?
Before a car is presented at a motor show official data and images are always published and thus it is “presented”. So yes, we just want the pictures right now.. 🙂 🙂
Indeed, pictures are often released beforehand because otherwise they would be buried under 100 other new car models showing up from other companies.
Yes… I am, aren’t you currious what it looks like?
Well,
If the rear door goes down into the bumper like in the ams image, I´m pleased:)
Only thing I don´t like is the slope of the rear side door. Extremely hard to lift childseats and my 1 & 3 old children in when the doorway is so narrow height wise…
Fall of 2011 ?? I hope this is only for the US market, and the european delivery will be summer of 2011 as stated before ?
Seriously, I’ve been waiting for over 2 years for this car. Every day extra is killing me and brings me down….:)
An Aero version in the mix?
What engines?
Will it have a manual trans available? Sometime…please…
1rst Picture available !!!! At least !!
http://saab.skynetblogs.be/
Great!
Where have you found the pict?
In the UK section of Saab Media.com actually .
it is official now:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/Saab
Media.saab.com loads very slowly due to everybody visiting right now…
No 9-5-SC pics up at this moment of writing.
Well.. every Saab-nut normally visiting here is just going over there… 🙂 I do wish they have some photos of the car in other colors than just grey. I want to see it in Laser Red.. 😀
Same wish for me too .We are bored with grey
Chili Red or perhaps a nice shade of Java Brown 😉
Pic here: http://www.gmeurope.info/press/se/saab/sv/2011-01-19_Saab_9-5_SV/index.html
Good what a beauty!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.gmeurope.info/press/…….. Do not want to step on Swades toes. You´ll find the rest
Why it´s on GM Europe I do not know… But it is.
Not any more it’s not…no bad thing either 😉
I’m wondering if the estate will be a MY12 when its really coming out already this summer as stated by Loma ? My Saab dealer in Luxembourg told me last week that the first SC will be delivered in september/october.
I’m waiting for a “dream modus on” double clutch automatic transmission which will help to reduce the fuel consumption along with a start-Stopp system “dream modus off” 🙂
for french readers is on line with 1st official picture!
http://saab.skynetblogs.be/archive/2011/01/19/9-5-estate-2011.html
My GOOD it´s STUNNING!!!!!!! Best Wagon Ever!!!!
+1
+1
Heres the link to the swedish press release:
I know I misspelled god.. It´s That good!
He will make an exception because the wagon is that good 🙂
Looks good. Guess they’ll be able to sell a couple of those.
It’s a GM-link I know, but it is here as well: http://www.gmeurope.info/press/se/saab/sv/2011-01-19_Saab_9-5_SV/index.html
Wow. Amazing
Stunning! 🙂 And just posted on Saab’s Facebook page. Here is your confirmation.
The UK Press release says order books are open from spring and first customer deliveries will take place from September on… Hopefully the rest of europe is a little sooner…
we want this amazing car in turkey, please let us feel this pleasure. TURKEY want SAAB
Still a CGI picture ?
Actually, I feel bad for not being more enthusiastic in my first comment. I really like the look of this car, honestly. Sorry about that cold-hearted first reaction.
Allt är förlåtet 😉
I like it, this beauty would look very nice on my driveway !!!
Swedish Press release says available from August. I think it’s not perfect to launch both the 9-4x and the 9-5 Combi in one month.
I really don’t think there will be a lot of cross shoping between this and the 9-4X, at least untill/if they launch a 9-5X 🙂
And it looks great. Not as well resolved as the sedan, but somehow that gives it it’s own personality and makes it more than just ” another 9-5 “. Can’t wait for some more pics, especially interior ones.
……. well, I think it does not matter, the important thing is to get all new vehicles out as quickly as possible without trying to be “tactical” about it!
I think they say deliveries will start in August and order books will be open from spring. Then I do hope that the dealers are able to get some cars in the spring as well, so people can test drive them and so on. Then we just have a more few months with agony and pain before the cars starts rolling out of the factory to customers.
And starting deliveries in August would sit rather well in a production sence as well, having things installed on the production line before the swedish summer holidays and ready to get going at full speed when the workforce returns in late July / early August…
On the downside, this might make me wait a while before ordering a new car, until I’ve seen it in the flesh… I like it even more than the sedan from first look! But the sedan in the flesh is just amazing so…
I agree! They fix the production line details in summer hollyday so to speak and then rolling them out. Remember the second shift at the “prototype line (15+15 people) they fix the dealer cars first and from spring. This is my guess anyway.
I wish it would come out earlier to secure the 80 000 target. This car can hopefully make the 9-5 to fly.
But I´m an 9-3 person and hope the11,5 get really good and sell well. Nice year, right!
The Swedish site AMS mentioned something about the 9-3 11,5 being launched in week 12 if I remember what I saw yesterday.
Great! It´s clean, it´s cool, it´s a Saaby wagon through and through!!
I wish they´d give us a side profile.
Dropdead gorgeous!!! Waaay better than I expected, my new wallpaper btw 😀
I hope we dont have to wait non-computer images for weeks.
Damn!
I think I just mentally passed out watching that marvellous creation.
😀