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We’ve come to the end of another fantastic Canadian holiday and I’m a little sorry that it overwhelmed content here in the last few weeks, but such is the way of these things.
Lance, I’ve got your emails and will get back to you as soon as I land in Oz.
So, on to some Saaby topics before I pack up the laptop and head upstairs to pack my bags and leave the northern hemishere.
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Normally, when a new Saab concept or new Saab model shows it’s face, I end up writing a column here explaining my thoughts and feelings about the vehicle. I haven’t done that with the 9-X Air for a couple of reasons.
a) On the day it was released, I had one hour to get the press material on the site before we loaded the Buick and headed for Vancouver Island. Consequently, I’ve probably seen and read less about the car than anyone.
b) One of my main points of interest is with the convertible mechanism, which we still haven’t seen yet, as far as I can tell. I’ve seen it with the top down (stunning) and with the top up (wearing the toupee), but I haven’t seen the journey from one to the other. It seems Saab are holding that back for the car’s debut in Paris.
My one overriding hope is that with the adjustment in the size of the 9-3 in the future, this will be the template for the convertible version of the car. I think it looks fantastic over all, and it’d be a shame if the entire “noughties” decade yields little more than a number of concept cars for Saab that never got built.
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Further to cars and motor shows, several news sources are reporting that the production version of the Saab 9-4x will not be shown in Detroit early in 2009, as originally assumed. Rather, both Autoblog and AMS in Sweden are hinting that it’ll show late in 2008 at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
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I haven’t updated the Saab Future Model Timeline in a while now. I’ll look to do so with the most recent information when I get back to Australia.
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Saab will also show the 9-3x SportCombi at the Paris Motor Show. I can’t wait to see it. Having just spent a bucketload on fuel in a Buick Rendezvous for a week, I can tell you that the trip would have been just as well travelled (in terms of load carrying) in a Saab 9-3 SportCombi. The addition of XWD and some extra rugged bits should make it a genuine SUV alternative.
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Forbes announce that the Saab 9-5 is apparently the worst selling car in the US, though I’m sure they have deliberately discounted high-price low-volume marques such as Lamborghini when they tallied the numbers.
Fortunately for Saab, they consider the 9-5 very much worth a second look for anyone looking for a safe, well equipped four door saloon.
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If you, like me, are a little down on Saab’s current development and loss of heritage and character, then please remember that things can always be worse. You could be a fan of the storied, race and rally winning marque that is Lancia.
Fiat have done some great things in the last few years (Alfa 8c, Fiat 500) but the latest from Lancia must make an enthusiast tremble.
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Consumer Reports have been driving the latest Eurodiesels and predictably, they find them to be a great alternative with smooth, torquey engines.
Of course, the cars they drove were samples provided by Audi, BMW, Mini (think BMW) and Chrysler (think ex-MB). The emergence of the diesel car in the US will really come to the fore in the next couple of years and it will be synonymous with a rise in the US perception about European vehicles.
If GM wants to (quite rightly) raise Saab’s profile as a European manufacturer selling vehicles in the united States, it should be preparing Saab’s excellent TTiD engine for release there. The spoils will go to those first into the market.
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As mentioned earlier, I recently drove the family around for a week in the Buick Rendezvous. I won’t do a full review of that car here as it’s pretty much irrelevant to the Saab demographic.
A few quick thoughts, though.
1) It got us there and back, covering just over 1,000 kms with no problems whatsoever. Kudos for that.
2) It had plenty of space for us three and all our gear for a week-long trip. Kudos for that.
3) If I were to identify a negative about the car (and you know I will) it’s the car’s complete lack of identifiable character. If I had to take this vehicle as a representation of what Buick is, then I’d have to ask “what’s the point?”
They have a reputation as an old guy’s vehicle and as such, I assumed it would be well appointed, comfortable and quiet. It was definitely quiet. The appointment level and comfort, though, were what I’d expect from a base level brand and a base level vehicle. Cloth seats, column shift auto, climate controls that were reminiscent of a 1980s Toyota……
In short, the Buick Rendezvous is quite possibly symptomatic of the identity problem facing GM right now with eight brands to manage in it’s US portfolio. There just aren’t enough distinct vehicles to go around.
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13 responses so far ↓
1 ctm
// Sep 24, 2008 at 4:21 am
“I’ve seen it with the top down (stunning) and with the top up (wearing the toupee), but I haven’t seen the journey from one to the other. It seems Saab are holding that back for the car’s debut in Paris.”
According to Swedish newspapers, it is because of the patent application regarding this mechanism still isn’t finialized.
2 sam
// Sep 24, 2008 at 6:00 am
My experience with rental cars is that they feature base level options for engines and accessories, in other words the most boring configurations. But Buicks aren’t known for their excitement, that’s for sure.
3 Swade
// Sep 24, 2008 at 6:06 am
Sam, this rental company was a little privateer, attached to a body shop, so they buy their cars at auction rather than brand new. Hence they’ve got their choice of whatever’s for sale rather than buying rental specials from the manufacturers.
Regardless, though, this was most likely a base model as it featured base levels of stuff.
4 Tiago do Vale
// Sep 24, 2008 at 6:07 am
hmmm :”/ I’m a Lancia fan, and I think Fiat has a good plan for then: the Ypsilon is a great car and the Delta really impressive! Luxurious, quality built and an amazing road presence! (We must remember the original Delta was as boring as it’s platform sibling Fiat Ritmo… The rally craze came afterwords.)
Maybe Fiat Auto could make it faster and better for Lancia (if we consider how Alfa was taken care of, and now Fiat itself), but even so they are taking care of Lancia in ways that GM still has to fully demonstrate for Saab, in my opinion.
About the 9-X cars, and the 9-3 move to a smaller platform:
Wouldn’t it be conceivable that both the 9-X could be made realilty just as they are, built on the Delta platform and standing next to the 9-3 in Saab’s lineup? Just like Ovlov’s C30 and S40/V50 in the C1 platform.
So the 9-1 we have been seeing in the 9-X concepts would actually by another car, based on the Gamma platform, and the 9-X concepts would in fact be part of the new 9-3 family… I’m praying for it to be so! :p
5 Alex
// Sep 24, 2008 at 7:55 am
If you think a rendezvous feels cheap inside, go check out it’s downmarket chevy contemporaries like the cavalier, impala, and malibu. I’ve seen Lada’s and chinese cars with better interior materials.
6 1985 Gripen
// Sep 24, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Well, I’ll be at the Los Angeles Auto Show as usual so if the 9-4X is there I’ll share pics and anything I learn that we didn’t already know (though other than the “press day” I’m not privy to Saab rarely shares anything at this show).
I suggest when you do update the Future Models Timeline (coincidentally I discovered that feature at TS just a few days ago) I suggest you strikeout rather than delete the old info. It’ll give us a historical record of the delays!
Did Forbes count certified pre-owned 9-5s? Because we just traded-in our 2001 9-3 5-door for a CPO 2005 9-5 Arc SportWagon yesterday. The salesman told me that they’d been trying to sell it for four weeks(!) and they just had to drop the price. We bought it for $5 more than wholesale! This car must’ve cost $40K+ three years ago when it was new and we got it for $16.5K (which includes the bumper-to-bumper warranty valid until April 2011). It devalued 2/3 of its total value in just three years. Bad for the previous owner, GREAT for me! The car is like new. Even came with the accessory rubber cargo mat. I just wish it had the ventilated seats. With so few new 9-5s being sold the last several years it makes them scarce on the used market. But beggars can’t be choosers!
Just noticed at the dealer I was at this weekend that they dumped HUMMER. It was previously one of those GM packaged “premium” brand dealers, selling Cadillac, HUMMER, and Saab. They dumped HUMMER but the same ownership group just bought the nearby Subaru dealer. Funniest thing I saw on the lot: lots of foot traffic checking out the Cadillac Escalade Hybrid. They sell for around $70K. “Let’s see, I want a Cadillac Escalade. But I want to appear “green”, so I’d better pay extra for the hybrid”.
7 1985 Gripen
// Sep 24, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Oh, and safe travels, Swade. Yesterday was the Autumnal Equinox so you’re traveling south across the equator just as the sun did!
8 Jeff
// Sep 24, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I knew you were gonna trash the Rendezvous for being stupid on the inside.
It doesn’t matter. They stopped selling the Rendezvous. It’s a badge-engineered POS, and that’s why it’s appointed so terribly. The Enclave is where it’s at. Try THAT for a while, then you can judge Buick. Judging them with the Rendezvous is like judging Saab with the 600.
9 Snotfjold
// Sep 24, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Gripen and others you’ll not see the production model of the 9-4X in LA but rather the 9-4X Concept that has been shown in various shows in Europe and US already.
I would not believe any reports claiming that the production car will be revealed globally in the US this time around.
10 MagnusE
// Sep 24, 2008 at 5:38 pm
“the Saab 9-4x will not be shown in Detroit early in 2009, as originally assumed. Rather, both Autoblog and AMS in Sweden are hinting that it’ll show late in 2008 at the Los Angeles Auto Show.”
Does this mean that the new 9-5 will be shown in Detroit?
11 Mats
// Sep 25, 2008 at 3:02 am
AS for the diesel spoils I just read this on the VW-Vortex forum…
“They must be doing something right at VWoA, as the Jetta Clean Diesel is sold out for the next 2.5 years at my closest dealer.”
Get your ass out of the closet GM and realize that you’re going to miss out bigtime of you dont act now and act fast….
12 ehall1
// Sep 25, 2008 at 4:42 am
What can you say? GM is going to be the same old ostrich in the sand, but they will have their hand out to “Uncle Sugar” and trying to get in on the bail out. Well duhh, if they would turn out good products, then they wouldn’t have to sweat it anyway. The Japanese are beating their pants off, and Europe isn’t far behind.
13 joemama
// Sep 25, 2008 at 10:28 am
Mats – GM is that DUMB. Its like talking to a wall.
Can someone please explain how VW can bring them to the US, but all GM has are excuses as to why they can’t…..