Those of you that are after a few bigger Aero-X pictures, ones that don’t have Saabscene written all over them - fret no more. From Automobile Mag.

Click on these to enlarge. Enjoy the greater details!!

Saab: Build it and they will come…..

I’m on house cleaning duty today. Tomorrow we have our first open-for-inspection in our efforts to sell up and live with a view. Walls to paint, windows to clean. You know the drill. Grrrrr.

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Last time I covered a writeup by the Lienerts (Detroit News) I bagged the daylights out of them for writing such drivel. It would therefore be a little hypocritical of me to praise their latest effort just because they find the 9-7x to be better value for money, than the Volvo XC90. By all recent accounts (and there’s been a bunch of ‘em - check the Feb 2006 archive), the 9-7x is a great SUV and is a vast improvement over its GM siblings. ’nuff said.

Cars! Cars! Cars! actually has a great review of this review.

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Thanks to JWV for this screenshot from the latest 9-5 ad in the USA. Love the ad. Would love a 1024×768 version of this:

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The greatest game the world has ever known, Australian Rules Football, starts its 2006 preseason series tonight. Welcome back footy. It’s been way too long.

The Pope is catholic.

Bears relieve themselves in the woods.

And Saab laments the lack of AWD.

Jan-Ake Jonsson was recently in Australia (why didn’t he call?!) and had a few quick words with the Fairfax Press’ Drive section.

Jan-Ake Jonsson, managing director of Saab AB, said during a recent visit to Australia that the struggling GM-owned Swedish company made a mistake not embracing all-wheel-drive in addition to its front-wheel-drive design years ago.

“We were slow to accept all-wheel-drive capability and it is hurting us today,” Mr Jonsson told Drive.

“Thirty to 40 per cent of our US customers picked up on cross-overs and sports utilities and came to our showroom and found we didn’t have them.

“We missed a tremendous opportunity, but we are on the way back.”

Damn right it’s hurting us. And GM-folk in Detroit (as much as I love y’all) can take a good look at this and see what should have been.

Thanks to Paul for the heads-up.

Saab USA are releasing (oops, have released) a new ad for the 9-5. It’s fitting in with its “Born From Jets” little brother and features the SAAB Gripen fighter jet. Which poses an interesting point - people who are against the campaign say “aw, they don’t have anything to do with jets anymore”. True, the car company is separate from the jet company nowadays, but the aircraft people don’t have any problem with their imagery being used in the car company’s ads. The core of both companies is still in the same neck of the woods.

But I digress.

Well, whilst I’m digressing, let me digress even a little further.

The 9-5 is a freaking good car. Undersold and underappreciated. I’ve stated all this before. Perhaps Saab could use their own customers in their advertising (probably a silly idea really, but the enthusiasm shows through). This is Barry W commenting after my drive of the 9-5 Aero:

I have owned a 2001 9-5 Aero (5 speed Manual) for 5 months now, having traded in a ‘99 Subaru Impreza. I find that the Saab out handles and out accelerates the Subaru hands down. This is one fantastic car that demands to be driven home by the longest route every day. The luggage capacity is phenomenal: having made a run to Ikea the other day, I had the car full to the brim with flat pack. Everything fitted in, no problem at all. This has got to be the most underrated car of all time. I have driven a few exotics in my time (Lambo Diablo SV, Maseratti 3200GT, Dodge Viper to name but a few) but for the practicalities of a daily driver, and one of the safest cars on the road, the Saab is very hard to beat. The acceleration through the gears is breathtaking, the handling is very good with lots of grip from the wide tyres, ride is very comfortable over bumpy ground (even with the low profiles) and everybody who has the privilege of being a passenger comments on how smooth and classy the car feels. Drive one if you can…own one if possible.

I’d put Barry in an ad. Cheers, mate.

Ok, now that I’ve double digressed, it’s back to the new 9-5 Ad campaign. Here’s the new print ad. There’s a new TV commercial too, which is detailed in the press release following the print ad. You can see the TV ad on the 9-5 page ofthe SaabUSA website. I’ve just watched it about 6 times and it’s fantastic!

Click to enlarge the ad below.

ATLANTA – Saab Automobile USA continues its successful “Born From Jets” campaign with new advertising that features its redesigned flagship, the 2006 Saab 9-5 Sedan. The new ads represent the reaffirmation and continuation of Saab’s aircraft-inspired marketing strategy.

Saab’s latest television commercial, called “Head-to-Head,” shows a face-off between the 9-5 and a Saab Gripen jet fighter aircraft. The spot opens on the Gripen as it begins to roll down a runway. Cut to the 9-5 as it accelerates toward the jet from the opposite direction. A voiceover reads, “The aerodynamic principles that keep a Saab jet in the air help the Saab 9-5 remain firmly on the ground.” Just as the jet is about to meet the car, it lifts off the runway and the 9-5 speeds under the aircraft. The ad concludes with the voiceover, “When you used to build jets, you don’t just build another car.”
[Read the rest of this entry →]

There’s traffic flying all over the place. It’s been a crazy week, but starting to settle now.  Edmunds have reported that the Aero-X images we’ve seen this week are "incomplete renderings" as told to them by GM.

They also reported that it’s quite likely that there was nothing inadverdant about the inadverdant release (leak) of the pictures.  Which is an interesting note for them to finish on.  Especially in the light of what Bill Bartman’s written in comments:

As to the Aero-X’s mechanicals, I checked today with an acquaintance who has inside contact with SAAB Sweden (and Germany), and he said that 3.0 liter engine being mentioned for Aero-X is pure SAAB, i.e., not some GM retread. GM wants to kill the true SAAB engines like the 2.0 and 2.3 — in fact it’s said as much — and my contact said the use of biopower in the 2.3 and putting the 3.0 in the concept car is SAAB’s way of putting its continuing engine development in GM’s face. The relationship is an ever uncomfortable alliance, I’m told, and the contact said SAAB can be jerks about it. "They want GM’s money, but they don’t want GM’s interference," he laughed.

Without actually trying to be disrespectful towards GM, whose money has kept my favourite car company afloat, let me say I’m on the side of the Swedes.  Always will be.  If there really is some bad blood in all this, here’s hoping Saab can find a home where its innovation can be nurtured and grown.  And soon.  I still haven’t given up on Porsche (yes, call me stupid).

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I do a fair bit of homework in preparing this stuff, but at the end of the day I’m just a guy with an opinion - just like you.  OK, I’ve invested a little in software so I can express it, but still it’s just my opinions and thoughts.  I therefore have a very healthy respect for all the comments posted here.

I just wanted to say that so I could say this….

If I hear another comment about the impracticality of the Aero-X because it doesn’t have a proper boot/trunk that opens at knee level (or whatever) then I think I’ll vomit all over my screen.  It’s a sports car, dammit.  The fact that it only has 2 seats should indicate that it’s not meant to be totally practical, it’s meant to be fun.  And it’s a concept (broken record alert).

The first mass produced Saab didn’t even have a boot/trunk lid.

I’ll reiterate: I do maintain a healthy respect for all opinions expressed.  I just don’t agree with all of them.

/rant

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Porsche don’t have a company email address on the investor relations site.  More digging required.  I’d like to know what happened with regard to Section 5.1(2) of the agenda for their annual shareholders meeting back on January 27.

I’ve been quite tentative about writing this up as it’s been from sources I can’t confirm as genuine.  BUT, it has been from two independant sources and both have said similar things to two different levels of detail.

The crux of all this smoke n mirrors stuff is that the Aero-X may not be the only new product we see from Saab at Geneva.  Whilst there may not be cars there in the flesh, I’ve received indications that there may at least be imagery of the 9-4x SUV and the smaller car that’s going to replace the 9-2x and make a genuine go of taking on Audi’s A3 and BMW’s 1-series.

One source in particular indicated that he has been shown pictures of the SUV and remarked that the front of the vehicle he saw was pretty much the same as the 9-4x cameraphone shot I published here last year.

Now, that car was beleived to be a prototype of the 9-6x at the time as the 9-6x was still slated for production back then and the rear end of it looked quite Suuby-like.  This new Djup Strupe (my name for inside informers) indicated that the vehicle he saw in pictures, named to him as the 9-4x, looked the same at the front but was a five door, rather than the 3-door in the photo.

I can’t confirm the authenticity of the sources, but the fact that similar info has come in from two separate sources lends a certain amount of its own integrity.  We’ll have to wait and see, I guess.

Here’s the front I’m talking about.  It’ll be familiar to those of you that have been hanging around here for some time.

The original photo that broke the drought on the Aero-X concept car was sourced from the Geneva Motor Show official website.  I downloaded it off that site myself around 7 a.m. Hobart time yesterday morning (Tue 21 Feb) after receiving a comment on the blog to let me know it was there about an hour earlier (while I was asleep). 

It’s now been removed. 

How’d you have liked to be the guy in Geneva, or wherever, that received THAT phone call from GM?  Ouch!

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My, what a difference a day makes!!

That first photo had me feeling lukewarm but hopeful.  The next set of photos absolutely blew the roof of the sucker (literally!!).  The comments received both here and elsewhere seemed to be much more positive once the back of the car and ‘that roof’ was in sight. 

And well they should.  I’m now having to employ a drip-guard on my keyboard due to the salivation around here.

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Aeromac over at SaabCentral has done the obligatory comparo between the Sonett III and the Aero-X.  Rather than reinvent the wheel, I’ll reproduce it here, with gratitude.

Curse that damn time-zone thing again.  i should have had these up 8 hours ago!

My thanks to John for permitting the re-publishing of these, originally shown at Saabscene.  Again, hot or not?  I’m thinking hotter.