Spy shot 2010 saab 9-5
The Swedish brand has sagged badly over the past five years, and more, as GM has failed to create a workable product plan to produce the vital new models to drive Saab forward.
But a vital new flagship is on the way and the all-new 9-5 should break cover in Europe before the end of the year.
No-one at GM Premium Brands, the Australian distributor for Saab, will say anything about the 9-5 or its on-sale date here but it is likely to be - depending on the eventual outcome of the ownership talks - sometime in the second half of 2010.
Which makes these pictures a vital piece in the puzzle.
They show a smoother, larger and more refined 9-5 during testing in Europe as the car is readied for its coming-out party in the third quarter of this year, perhaps at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
It will be the first all-new 9-5 sine July 1997, although Saab did a mid-life upgrade which reached Australia in May, 2006.
The camouflage paint and covers disguise the detail of the car, but the overall shape is clear and shows Saab is looking for the trendy coupe-style roofline already used by Mercedes and BMW and Volkswagen for new four-door sedans. Some styling cues from 9-4X BioPower concept should appear in the final design.
European sources say the 9-5 will gain some extra weight, height and length over the current model.
The wheelbase is being stretched by a full 14 centimetres to make the car a true rival in the mid-sized luxury class against the Mercedes E- Class, BMW 5 Series and Volvo S80.
The car caught by the Carparazzi team during testing in Europe is fitted with a 2.0-litre petrol turbo engine making 155 kiloWatts, but the engine choices will also include a 2.8-litre V6 and a 3.6-litre V6 for the USA.
There will, of course, be a diesel engine, as well as flex-fuel powerplants which can run on E85 ethanol and a hybrid 9-5.
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