Saab 9-3 News

A new Saab has rolled off the production line for the first time since the former struggling GM brand went bankrupt.Under new owners, Hong Kong-based National Electric Vehicle Sweden (Nevs), Saab has restarted production at its Trollhatten plant in Sweden, with the first car a new 9-3 Aero.Saab ceased production in April 2011 when its previous Dutch owner, Spyker, was struggling with financing for the brand, which had been formerly under the General Motors umbrella. In December 2011, Saab filed for bankruptcy but has since been revived by Nevs with plans to build conventional petrol vehicles while ramping up plans for electric cars.The first 9-3 Aero is a revised version of the model last sold in 2011, and is powered by a turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine.Deliveries of the electric car based on the 9-3 will start in the first quarter of 2014, costing 279,000 kronor ($42,500) each, with Nevs saying its partner and part owner Qingdao Auto has ordered an initial pilot fleet of 200 electric cars.However the company has big aims, including becoming "a front runner in the automotive industry, with focus on electric vehicles" and while currently seeing China as the main market for those vehicles, is hoping the Saab brand to global sales.Though that will likely mean targeting European markets first, there is still a chance we could see Saabs return to Australian showrooms. 

The baby 9-2 will have separate parentage and could easily be fostered by BMW Group, but everything else will be Phoenix under the skin. The news comes as the Swedish maker gets serious about an Australian comeback with its flagship 9-5, a classy looking prestige sedan that's priced from $71,900 and only let down by shonky suspension. "Phoenix is the future of Saab. It's the mechanical platform for everything we do, except for the small car. It's demonstrating our independence and capability to survive by ourselves," Steve Nicholls, managing director of Saab Cars Australia, tells Carsguide. Saab has already previewed Phoenix with a concept car of the same name at this year's Geneva Motor Show. It was cartoonish in some ways, but strip away the outrageous body bits and you reveal the 9-3 underneath. "The big news comes in 2012, probably quarter three, with the launch of the all-new Saab 9-3. That will be based very much on the Phoenix car that was shown in Geneva. The underpinnings we showed in Geneva are pretty much the car," Nicholls says. Saab will soldier through until then with a lineup of current 9-3 models and the 9-5, as the 9-4X SUV is twinned with a Cadillac for the USA and is not available in left-hand drive. Nicholls says Saab has limited sales aspirations at present as it rebuilds support in Australia and expands a dealer network that has shrunk to just eight outlets. "Our job is to tick over and then gradually grow. We've got our first few batches of 9-3 on the ground and the 9-5 launch stock is here." He admits he is also fighting perceptions of problems following a factory shutdown in Sweden last week and overseas reports of financial trouble for a company that is not long out of General Motors' ownership. "Would I have chosen to have this happen? Of course not," Nicholls admits. "The funding is there, but the cash flow isn't. We've had a couple of unfortunate hiccups. "We've had losses, but they were within the parameters of the business plan. Hopefully we'll be in a profit making situation in 2012. Once we have the new 9-3 we should be making money. "We're here to stay. Saab has invested to be in Australia, it's a significant market for us and we were always one of the top 10 markets in the world. The fact that we've set up as a factory distributor, and not gone with an importer, shows we're taking this seriously."

Just like the mythical bird that rises from the ashes, the Swedish PhoeniX is intended to help Saab rise from the collapse of General Motors and soar again as an independent brand. The PhoeniX was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show and is as radical as anything that has ever worn a Saab badge, with futuristic coupe styling that taps a new vein of Swedish creativity. Just as importantly, the PhoeniX - the name taps the X-car models in the Saab range including the latest 9-4X SUV - is built over the mechanical package that will be used for the upcoming replacement for the brand's bread-and-butter 9-3 range. Saab knows it faces a tough battle back from the troubles of recent years, but company chief Victor Muller - who sold his Spyker sports car company to inject cash into Saab - says the brand has the strength to survive. Muller says the PhoeniX is still only a concept but provides "a pointer to the future”. He doesn't see it making the step to production, but believes key design elements will soon be used on Saab's production cars. The freehand design of the PhoeniX - a metal-finished, distinctly aero coupe that disrupts the eye with its unusual lines - was unveiled in Geneva by stylist Jason Castriota. The most radical design twist on the car is C-pillar supports at the tail of the car that act as vertical spoilers. "The wings are there for a purpose. They help aerodynamics," Castriota says. But he admits they will never make it onto anything in a Saab showroom. The car also has butterfly wings that open up-and-out for access to the two-plus-two cabin, as well as pumped-out guards and a super-low roofline with a small glass area. "The PhoeniX establishes a new reference point for the future of Saab product design," says Castriota. The concept uses a 147kW 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine bought in from BMW and has all-wheel drive using the engine for the front wheels and an electric motor for the rear. It's a potential pointer to a product tie-up with the German company for Saab as it cuts its ties to the GM world, including its previous product partners at Opel in Germany. The bottom line for the all-wheel drive coupe could be fuel economy in the 4.9 litres/100km range with CO2 emissions of just 119 grams/kilometre. Muller is clear on the work that has gone into the PhoeniX and admits the mechancial platform is destined for the new 9-3 and, within five years, the next 9-5 and 9-4X SUV. The platform is flexible enough to cope with Saab's large model range but Muller says the architecture is "too expensive” to shrink for the planned smaller, 9-2 vehicle.

The 9-3 range is already heading back to local showrooms, the 9-5 sedan is set for April, the 9-5 SportCombi will arrive late this year, and the 9-4X SUV will be early in 2012. The Swedish brand only delivered 16 cars during 2010 but is targeting more than 500 deliveries through 2011. "We're looking somewhere north of about 500 cars, as a gentle easing back into the market. We're not talking about a re-launch, we're talking about a re-invigoration," says Stephen Nicholls, managing director of Saab Cars Australia.  The company is now operating as an independent distributor, after General Motors sold the parent company to Victor Muller through his Spyker supercar business and GM Holden ended its time as importer. "The board approval to reform Saab Cars Australia was taken in late October. We had a few plans ready at that stage," says Nicholls. "What you see now is the result of us working since early November to get things in place. We'd been keeping in touch with our core dealers.  It was a fairly quick process to get cars ordered and on the boat." Nicholls is a 30-year Saab veteran who was the company's Asia-Pacific regional director before taking on responsibility for Australia. Nicholls says he has been surprised by the groundswell of interest in Saab and is happy with the response to the showroom return. "We've got cars on the ground now. We've had them for about 10 days,"   he says. "We have all 9-3s, Sports Sedan, convertible and SportCombi including the new 9-3X." The new-model rollout begins with the 9-5 sedan, which has only had a lukewarm reception in Europe, followed by the station wagon and the SUV. "We're targeting the middle of April for the 9-5 sedan," says Nicholls. "We're going to call it the wagon the 9-5 Estate in Australia. That   probably won't be with us until October-November. "The 9-4X is starting left-hand drive production now. We won't start right-hand drive production until September-October, which means a launch date very late this year or early next year. The 9-4X is definitely in the plan and is going to be an important car." Nicholls is not specific about prices for the whole range but confirms   a sub-$50,000 starting price for the return of the 9-3. "With the carryover products, if I can call it that, we're pretty much line-ball with where we were before. Against Audi and BMW we have a pretty good story to tell. "It's $46,900 for the 9-3 Sports Sedan Linear with a 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine. That's 147 kiloWatts."

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But Victorian Saab enthusiast Steve Bunton was one of 35 Melbourne owners who rallied at the weekend to show their support for the embattled brand.  There were also similar sized protests in Queensland and South Australia.The Australian "Save Saab" campaign was part of a global initiative by 30 Saab clubs around the world to protest plans by General Motors to axe the Swedish company if a buyer cannot be found.In Trollhattan, Sweden, where the 9-3 and 9-5 are built, more than 2000 Saab owners converged on the factory to rally.  Other protests were held in Russia, Britain, North America and Holland.Bunton says the Melbourne rally was "very positive".  "It was great to be a part of it and the mood was very upbeat.  We'd like to see Saab stay in business."Bunton, who owns a classic 900 Aero, is a life member of the Victorian Saab club and edits the club magazine.  He believes if the brand can be sold "there's a good chance its future will be secure".One of the co-ordinators of the global event, Steven Wade, who runs a Saab enthusiast website out of Hobart, said the protest was not one about resentment towards GM."There is a lot of passion about Saab so this event is about showing solidarity, not protest," he said.  "But I'm cautiously optimistic a buyer can be found."  Wade says GM "didn't have a clue about Saab".  "It's very frustrating that a board of old people in Detroit will close it rather than sell it," he says. GM has been trying to sell Saab for more than a year.A deal with Swedish supercar maker Koenigsegg collapsed last month.  Both Bunton and Wade are now hopeful an 11th hour bid by Dutch sports car maker Spyker could save Saab.  They say that if the brand is seen to have support of thousands around the world, a potential buyer may see the value in keeping it alive.More than 35,000 Saabs have been sold here since 1971.Last year it only sold 663 cars locally because of the global speculation about the brand's future.  The company employs 3400 people in Sweden and about 8000 globally.  It has failed to return a profit since 2001.However, the brand is on the verge of a big product offensive, with the new 9-5 sedan and wagon due out this year.  A four-wheel drive is also planned and work on the next-generation 9-3 is also believed to be under way.Saab firstsPioneered mainstream turbocharging (1977)Ignition in the centre console (1967Headlight washers/wipers (1970)Energy-absorbing bumpers (1971)Heated front driver's seat (1971)Cabin air filter (1978) 

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Then, early Saturday our time, a Swedish court gave it three months to find a means of keeping the company afloat while an administrator negotiates with creditors.Saab's managing director, Jan Ake Jonsson, says Saab is seeking to create a fully independent business."What would happen during the reorganisation phase is more preservation of cash and making sure we have the financials to go through it. Exactly what that means is too early to say."How very confidence inspiring …One feels for the workers, dealers and thousands of various job descriptions whose livelihoods will exist no longer when the Trollhattan marque eventually succumbs to the inevitable.Honestly, though, does anyone believe Saab deserves to survive?Can anyone – except perhaps the ever diminishing number of clueless and chronically dizzy types who mysteriously continue buy them – say with sincerity that they care a Viking’s frozen digit for Saab?The 9-5 is so hopelessly obsolete, so thoroughly behind the times, driving it is the equivalent of wearing spats. To the beach. The numerical designation might as well indicate its year of origin; the 9-5 belongs firmly to the previous century.Next to that the 9-3, with its near-decade old Vectra underpinnings, is positively effervescent. But with at least a half dozen sounder and more desirable alternatives for every one of the barely numerable variants in the line-up, the 9-3 is also very possibly the most futile car on earth.And as for charging $90K for the top model, on what planet – or more to the point – in which era do these people dwell?The only possible thing Saab could do to justify its continued existence is to make an entirely new car. A proper new car, that is, as opposed to minor embellishments of two decomposing model lines.That’s not going to happen, at least not in a hurry. Saab is wedded to a decaying US former auto giant, whose embattled execs want nothing more than a quick divorce. And Saab can’t afford to live on its own.The contrast with compatriot Volvo is glaring. But while Ford remains attached to life support, its Swedish subsidiary has at least continued to produce new, competitive and even – in terms of its fusty image – exciting new models, a la the C30 T5 and XC60. So Ford will eventually find a buyer for Volvo, because it’s making cars that you’d cheerfully spend your money on.Whereas Saab … well, the best thing it could do is to stop making them altogether. Please. 

The new 9-3X all-wheel drive wagon follows the proven path pioneered by the Subaru Outback and joins a legion of new Euro softer-roaders battling in the recreational lifestyle market.The jacked up, chunky Swede debuts at next month's Geneva Motor Show and could hit local Saab showrooms next year.For the downtrodden Saab brand locally, GM Premium brands director, Parveen Batish, says the 9-3X is not too little too late."I don't think so, I think the brand is moving forward and we've been talking about other cars and they will come," he says."Things have been tough but we can see some light."The cues we've seen from some of the concept cars are a real eye-opening in terms of where the brand is going."Last year Saab sold just 1158 vehicles locally, mostly 9-3s.The 9-3X and its bigger, still secret 9-4X off-roader, could be a sales savior.Batish says the 9-3X does not go into production until towards the end of the year "so that gives us plenty of time to investigate where it would fit and how it would fit"."Regardless of the brand, we've got to make sure it's the right thing for Australia," he says.In Europe the 9-3X will be available with both front and all-wheel drive.GM Premium Brands will investigate both options, Batish says."But being a small market we can't take everything," he says.Using the 9-3 SportCombi as its base, the 9-3X gets a 35mm higher ground clearance and Saab's cross-wheel drive (XWD) system, as well as some stirdy plastic trim.For the first time, Saab's E85-capable BioPower engine technology is mated to its XWD system.In Europe buyers will have a choice of the 155kW/300Nm 2.0-litre BioPower four-cylinder as well as petrol 2.0-litre four cylinder.The 2.0-litre petrol turbo has a similar output to the BioPower unit.A front-wheel drive 132kW/400Nm 1.9-litre TTiD two-stage turbo diesel will also be available.There is little difference between the all-wheel drive and front drive.The front drive gets the same styling but its suspension is only raised by an extra 20mm.Visually the soft-road wagon uses a proven formula of grey plastic body trim, wheel arches and sill panels and beefier bumpers.This treatment is complemented by matt aluminium skid panels.Black roof rails are standard, along with multi-spoke 17-inch alloys and dual exhausts.The XWD system is an active, intelligent system that continuously distributes engine drive torque between the front and rear axles.The hardware includes an electronically-controlled torque transfer system that varies power delivery between the axles.

Ageing designs and even older platforms have seen many prestige car buyers cross Saab off the shopping list before leaving home. The 9-3 sits on eight-year-old underpinnings, while the 9-5 is even older with its Epsilon platform approaching 12, a true geriatric in prestige automotive terms.“There is no doubt we have suffered because we spent a lot of time telling people what the price of the car was rather than what the brand was about,” says Saab Australia boss Parveen Batish.“That approach has a negative impact as far as your residual values are concerned and it takes a while to dig yourself out of that hole ... and we're not out of that hole yet.”Batish was on hand at the launch of the limited edition Turbo X and Aero fettle for the TTiD diesels. Saab hopes these will turn things around. Despite sales evidence to the contrary, Batish says the brand is heading in the right direction.To the end of May, Saab sales have dropped almost 27per cent over the same period last year, with just 592 cars registered.“We have been talking about the brand a lot more over the past 18 months. We've got to tell people what Saab's about if we're going to be sustainable in the future. We can't just go on price ... people are willing to pay as long as they know they are getting the performance and value they expect from the brand that they are buying.”The poster car for Batish's vision of a brave new future is one that will do little to improve the bottom line in raw figures but will provide a point of reference for what Saab is going to become.The Turbo X (just 30 examples will make their way to Australia) is a showcase of technology for future models. The all-wheel-drive (cross-wheel-drive in Saab speak) 2.8-litre V6 with active limited-slip rear differential is a clear signpost on the road to the all-new 9-5 due by early next year.“To have a hero car we can point to is hugely important for a couple of reasons,” Batish says. “Firstly it gives everyone a boost, a lift, and that will show in the marketing. More importantly it allows us to talk to the people we want. We can finally say to those people who have been scared to drive a front-wheel-drive car because , `You can't put that much power through the front wheels', try this.“It is true that 30 cars is not a lot of conquests, but from here AWD will flow to other models, at least as an option, in the very, very near future. That is what I mean about giving those people confidence. We can do one job at the moment in terms of lifting the brand with the Turbo-X and then with cross-wheel drive in the future we can bring those conquests to us.”Even before the flow down of the AWD and LSD technology, Saab is working to get its cars back on the consideration list.“The conversion rate when we get people into the cars is fantastic, something like 50 per cent,” Batish says. “That tells me we have a product people like but we have to get them into contact with it.”To that end Saab will be pushing what Batish believes is the brand's unique selling point.“As a brand what we're going to focus on is responsible performance. The fact we have excellent diesel engines with an Aero diesel, the fact we have enviro-power-flexible vehicles with E85, the fact we have four-cylinder engines with great performance and fuel economy. All of this leads to responsible performance.“Everyone wants performance. When people buy a premium car that's what they want.“We think we have great cars with great packages, especially the TTiD.”However, for all the “responsible” banter it is going to be, initially at least, the performance of the Turbo X that will grab buyers by the throttle.Saab has opened its AWD strategy with a car of which it has built only 2000 - all of which are black and which Saab Australia holds only four firm orders for the 30 examples it has been allocated. There is little argument that it deserves a better reception than that, and may well get one once those looking in from the sidelines at the $88,800 starting price get over the sticker shock.With 206kW and 400Nm the Turbo X, in six-speed manual or six-speed automatic, is open to some suspicion. The 9-3 Viggen (the car, not Saab's jet interceptor) is remembered for its audacious torque and atrocious manners.The Turbo X shares none of that. AWD and electronic LSD means the 400Nm of urge is delivered in a controlled manner. So much so that the Turbo X was at its best on a loose gravel road with the torque delivery switching from front to rear and side to side with effortless efficiency.