Lawrence Yap is my favourite Canadian automotive writer and it’s not so much due to his writing (which isn’t bad by any stretch).  I just love his photo.  It’s nice to see a guy enjoying his work.

Here, at Canadian Driver, he’s taking the 9-7x for a spin and whilst he seems to credit Saab for producing a vehicle that’s sufficiently different from it’s stablemates to not be a Trailblazer, he also thinks there’s not quite enough there to really credit it as a Saab.

I think we all get what he means.

The 9-7X is a nice enough vehicle. It’s roomy and comfortable and easy on the eyes, and for most daily duties, is a nice truck to drive. But the guy in the parking lot had it right: nice as the 9-7X may be, it isn’t a Saab, key in the console or not. It’s heavy when it should feel light on its feet; it’s not confidence-inspiring on rough roads or in the snow; and it’s expensive…..

…..For General Motors, which owns Saab, the 9-7X is a foot in the door of the lucrative SUV market, and brings the Saab brand into a segment that it hasn’t competed in before. But while the 9-7X may be good enough to compete, there’s not much about it that stands out; what Saab needs is an SUV based on a unibody platform like its European competition - something that drives like a Saab in addition to looking like a Saab.

Hear, Hear!