We expect this sort of thing nowadays. In fact, we probably take it for granted that it’ll happen automatically so we forget that they’ve got to re-test every year.
Still, every year it seems to happen – the Saab 9-3 earns a Top Safety Pick award.
Here’s the press release from SaabUSA
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2009 Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan, SportCombi and Convertible Keep IIHS Top Honors Secure
DETROIT — The entire 2009 Saab 9-3 family, including the 4-door Sport Sedan, 5-door SportCombi and 2-door Convertible has again earned the Top Safety Pick Award in the midsize category from the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
This is the fifth consecutive year that the 9-3 Sport Sedan has brought home IIHS top honors, a unique achievement in the luxury segment. For 2007 the 9-3 earned the Top Safety Pick Award, in 2006 the 9-3 earned the Top Safety Pick – Gold Award and received a Double Best Pick crash-test rating for 2005.
The institute began testing convertibles in 2007. In the inaugural year, the 9-3 Convertible earned a top spot. This is the third year that the Saab 9-3 Convertible earns the Top Safety Pick Award – one of three convertibles and the only soft-top convertible to earn a top spot for 2009.
The Institute rates vehicles good, acceptable, marginal, or poor based on performance in high-speed front and side-impact crash tests plus evaluations of seat/head restraints for protection against neck injuries. Winning vehicles must earn good ratings in all three tests and offer electronic stability control.
“The Saab 9-3 earned the Institute’s highest rating in front and side crash tests, and the Saab Active Head Restraints provide state-of-the-art protection against neck injuries in rear-end crashes,” said IIHS President Adrian Lund. “The addition of electronic stability control as standard equipment confirms Saab’s commitment to vehicle safety.”
IIHS is a nonprofit research and communications organization funded by auto insurers. The Institute’s research focuses on countermeasures aimed at all three factors in motor vehicle crashes (human, vehicular, and environmental) and on interventions that can occur before, during, and after crashes to reduce losses.
“We are delighted that these IIHS findings confirm our own crash test results,” says Per Lenhoff, head of Safety at Saab Automobile AB in Sweden. “This reassures consumers that the 9-3 is among the very best in its class for crash safety.”
As part of its on-going work with crash safety, Saab has led the automotive industry in pioneering the development of active head restraints to help prevent neck injury in rear-end impacts. Saab Active Head Restraints (SAHR) are standard equipment to the front seats of all its current car models. The 9-3 Convertible is also equipped with Saab Dynacage, which includes pop-up roll bars to help provide protection in the event of a roll-over crash or an impact that could lead to a roll-over.
Honouring Saab’s heritage, saving lives, and proving the point: Saabs ARE safer – its not some marketing crapiola ‘going forwards’ boll..ks speak…
Huge kudos to Saab. Why on earth don’t they make more of this in their adverts.
I agree, Lance.
Why on earth?
just not enough marketing $ to get a message out?
I just can’t think of another good reason, and I don’t want to call professional GM marketers boneheads…
Congratulations, Saab!
Now I want to se big TV-ads pointing this out. It is a smoking big success that this car STILL is the safest one. Some cars are 5 years younger…
An ad with flashes of the car from year to year with it earnings and the final touch.
“Still the safest car to drive if something goes wrong”
I still want to see the slogan “It’s safe to crash with a Volvo, as long as you sit in a Saab” or, “Saab, the Safer Swede”
I was at the LA show and almost every maker – bar Saab, has some mention of safety in their print materials. Hyundai was educating audience with demonstrations and Ford is touting the safety features intheir pick ups. Saab had no mention of it.
Hey Saab, we know your cars are safe, but does the majority of consumers do? Toot your own horn sometimes!
Lance, I agree….Saab never seems to tout its own safety engineering prowess! I was listening to the news while Saabing in to work this morning when the IIHS report was covered. And guess what?? No mention of Saab directly in the report. Ford and Volvo were mentioned individually, but Saab was buried somewhere in the “several GM models” category. If Saab/GM don’t get the word out to the general public, nobody is going to do it for them (well, except for TS perhaps). It’s a shame this marketing opportunity remains untapped after all these years. BFJ is utter nonsense! Saab has a much better story to tell than that………
I always thought that the safety message was hidden, because car manufacturers do not want their customers to associate death and disaster with their products. If you show them gory pictures, they’ll run away…
I believe SAAB has pushed the safety message before, but it looks as if the general populace refuse to pay extra for high quality steel bars that keep someone from killing you as they crash into you from the side.
I also think these tests are very artificial.
http://folksam.se/testergodarad/bilen/valjrattbil/hursakerarbilen bases its ratings on real accidents. No surprise, the SAABs do very well here… But other brands that get 5 euroncap stars don’t always fare so well…
That SAAB is now (!) investing several millions into extending their crash test facilities speak volumes. But who is listening?
I think we will have to let Darwin settle this one. Survival of the fittest. Those who are meant to survive, most of us will drive SAABs. The rest… We will just have to wipe them off the highway eventually.
(My future wife likes German cars, but I think my SAAB propaganda is slowly starting to pay off
She just now told me that one of the good guys in one of Dan Browne’s books, drives a SAAB — that helps 
)
LOL…
Funny that I was also chatting to people viewing the Saab stand (potential buyers), telling them about the whole range is turbo-charged.
Get the word out there.
congrats to Saab!.
And i do agree with the previous posters, Saab has to scream louder so people do hear about the brand.
More of the same from me. Tell the world about turbo-4s, XWD and Safety. This is a winning combo that SAAB is allowing others to take with a free pass.
Yup. The AP “story” touts Ford & Volvo naturally with 13 top picks. GM has 8, mentioning all the US-made models. If it werent for TS and Swade, me thinks nobody would have known that Saab once again gets brushed under the rug. We this time and again. Most of the auto-journos are just so in love with everything German for no great reason that I can see. News flash to Germans and the media….most of the hard parts in Saabs for decades are made in Germany.
Ah… I finally looked at IIHS.org’s press release.
The SAAB 9-3 is lumped together with all sorts of other cars, including the Audi A3 and A4.
Compare those results with http://folksam.se/testergodarad/bilen/valjrattbil/hursakerarbilen/1.25619
Earlier Audi A4 models (MY00) is awarded an average rating (yellow dot), newer models (MY 01-07) get four stars in EuroNCAP. Earlier A3 models (MY96-03) get average rating (yellow dot) in real life accidents, and this is reflected in newer models as well: again only four stars in EuroNCAP.
I somehow doubt that A3 and A4 improved dramatically for the MY08. I would expect changes to happen gradually. One does not research and implement 9-3 levels of safety overnight.
So, this is exactly what is wrong. Artificial collision tests used to weed out the “bad” from the “good enoughs”. The truly *excellent* models do not get special mention. They are merely lumped in with the rest of them.
Heck, IIHS did not even bother to list the 9-5 in the large car group.
I see no reason then, for SAAB, to mention or promote IIHS at all. IIHS are just another organisation that just don’t get “it”.