Saab Unveils New Flagship
By Bill Visnic August 28, 2009It's leaving the General Motors Co. empire by the end of this year, but GM nonetheless issued the press material detailing Saab's next-generation 9-5 flagship, a car that goes on sale next year after Saab effectively is no longer under GM management. The car will be unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show next month.
Although there are well-executed Saab-esque design details, including a feint at the Saab-signature wraparound windshield and an angular sideglass/C-pillar junction reminiscent of the 900 Series, the bodysides betray a hint of Buickness that shouldn't surprise: the all-new 9-5 is built around the GM global midsize architecture on which rides the new Buick LaCrosse, not to mention Europe's well-received Opel/Vauxhall Insignia.
Leveraging the global midsize underpinnings means the new 9-5 is markedly larger than the current flagship, some five inches longer in wheelbase and nearly seven inches longer overall.
The new platform also means the next-gen 9-5 - the old model endured a 12-year run that evidenced Saab's wither under GM control - is front-wheel-drive, although the car will offer the company's XWD all-wheel drive.
There will be a 4-cylinder turbodiesel making 160 horsepower and 1.6-liter and 2-liter turbocharged gasoline engines, the larger giving up 220 horsepower. The top-of-the-line engine is a turbocharged 2.8-liter V6 as recently seen for the Cadillac SRX. Saab says both the manual and automatic transmissions will be 6-speed.
Britain's Car magazine reports Saab is eying global sales of perhaps 45,000 units, with a 9-5 wagon coming later next year - and no hatchbacks planned for any future Saab large cars. Production for the 9-5 sedan begins in April at Saab's Trollhattan, Sweden, assembly plant. - Bill Visnic
Photos courtesy General Motors Co.
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The Saab depicted above is a vehicle that I am sure American car buyers would seek provided that they were well heeled and had a specific desire for a class auto. I have often imagined myself in a Saab or a Jaguar or a Mercedes. My continuous trepidation of ever buying an esoteric make is that I imagine my family of four driving on a dark country road in say the Poconos and the car malfunctions. I am sure a local gas station unlike in the case of a Ford or a Chevy would not be prepared to deal with the vagaries and complications of a repair. I can only guess what getting to the proper repair source would involve the next AM. I drive a Hyundai Elantra Coupe, the second one and pretty much Americanized for service anywhere.
Do the Swedes have a word that defines uniquely boring? Over here we call it a Buick and that's just what this looks like.
jayadler,
You can get OnStar in a SAAB, which personally I'd trust more than a Jaguar.
outsking,
Unikt trakig is the rough translation. Maybe that's why the call it the 9(am)-5(pm)
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