Comments on: Saab: Interview with Jan-Ake Jonsson

By: Arild

Arild — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:04:33 +0000

My comment isn’t relevant to this article, but nevertheless:
I wonder how the General will cope with the decline in the economy. It’s not a secret that GM is in a difficult financial situation and now the cost of loaning money has risen considerably. I assume GM needs short-term loans to keep operations going and now there’s suddenly very little money out there to loan. The interest is increasing and thus the cost of running a business is increasing. The demand for new automobiles has shown a decreasing trend the last months and this will surely make the fall even sharper. I wonder for how long GM can stay alive…

By: mike c

mike c — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 01:45:38 +0000

With Saab set to put all of these things into production, will they remove the Cadi’s Vett’s and Hummers from the showroom? I stopped by my local Saab Hummer dealer to have a bulb changed yesterday. While waiting in the showroom saw the Vett, 2 Hummers and O, in the BACK OF THE SHOWROOM one convertible. Yes it was fly yellow and nice, but a little sad to see.
The bulb was replaced for free under c.p.o.coverage. The service was very fast and friendly so I am happy about that.

By: turbin

turbin — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:47:49 +0000

Also, there is a certain Saab fan site that has ‘honourably’ and publicly chosen to respect the embargo on the 9X Air but happily publishes the leaked specs of the 9-4x.

Win no friends that way.

By: turbin

turbin — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:44:13 +0000

BTW: I didn’t even know there was a Saab Chile, at least the 9-4x speaks Spanish.

By: turbin

turbin — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:43:11 +0000

Well at least in Chile it will have the 2.0T engine with 245hp/182kw-400Nm. Does this mean it’s DI? Power is down on the cobalt but at the upper limit of what BSR can do with the current 2.0T, torque is off the scale. I’ll go Parchment (like my current ride) or Snow Silver thanks.

By: turbin

turbin — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:32:20 +0000

Hey you whinging lot, the 9-4x IS on sale, in Chile.... See Specs and Colours Here

By: Danni

Danni — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:09:56 +0000

I do not know what to believe anymore until I see the product in the showroom. Look I am hanging on to my MY01 9-5 having now clocked 224,000km and costing me money.

So the question is: what do you offer someone like me who cannot afford the Turbo X and who does not fancy the current facelifted 9-5? How long do I need to have this patience just to get what I want? 2 years, 3? What guaranteee do I have that once these new offerings appear, they will not overstay their visit for another 10 years? Why is the rate that Saab brings new products to the market so out of sync with the rest of the automotive industry? Oops, I forgot: we ain’t in the black as yet, right?

By: MarkoA

MarkoA — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:34:42 +0000

Wilfried, they gave us the TTiD..oh, it´s from Fiat. Well…umm..
Next..

Talk is cheap, like someone already stated. Lets see those new exciting products.
I´ve been waiting for 9-3X for too long time (since 9-3SportHatch).
I mean, too long for me. I´m not going to
buy it because it´s dated already. XWD doesn´t make that much difference.
My now 9mths old 9-3 has got noisy and rattles from here and there if I go on a rough
surface or bad roads. Guess if I´m going to get another one anymore to be able to
drive even tougher roads?

By: wilfried

wilfried — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:56:30 +0000

Somehow this JA Jonsson talk reminds me about the turbo talk in the period when the 9X was shown.
It only gave us lots of concepts, protoypes and design studies and for the real market they offered only facelifts for both 9-3 & 9-5 and some alloys.
What is now different than in 2001 ?
I wished they came up with something new at the dealers.
Not just one product, but several including 9-4X, sporty 2+2 9-X, compact 9-X BH, limited small series über-saab Aero-X , new 9-5, later on new 9-3 and yes why not the Air version of the 9-X BH.
Combined with new technology and top build quality & reliability.
And please do not drain all new technology & safety engineering from saab towards the other GM-brands. The uniqueness of saab gets diluted.

By: Mailr

Mailr — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:10:54 +0000

“Now the 9-X Air, designed in parallel with the 9-X BioHybrid”

This is highly interresting. This CAN be interpreted as a strong indication that the next 9-3 Convertible (and presumably the other 9-3 models) will share platform with the 9-1. (Unless there is a 9-1 Convertible in the works, of course.) So maybe we will see all of the 9-1, 9-3 and 9-3 Convertible in about 2010-2011. The AMS article about the 9-X Air says that Anthony Lo has confirmed that they have moved from concept to prototype phase, although it’s a bit unclear if that’s for both the “9-X BioHybrid” and “9-X Air”. Prototypes to market, 2 years sounds reasonable.

My guess is that this also means Trollhattan will be fully occupied building 9-1:s and (new versions of the) 9-3:s in about 2011.