I’ve been a Hirsch advocate for some time, ever since I took Jeff B’s Hirsched 9-5 for a drive back in Melbourne. It was a life-changing experience. The product is exceptionally good and I’d happily stand Jeff’s Hirsch against any Euro sedan and claim happiness, contentment and blistering acceleration. That car would be perfect for me.

Unlike my usual Hirsch-SaabUSA rants, however, today I’m not trying to get them to think about bringing the full catalog to the US market.

There’s several acknowledged areas in Saab’s current range that have room for improvement. They function OK and people are satisfied with them in general terms, but they could be improved. Some of these are quite complex, like the steering and shifter feel. These things take time, expertise and a huge investment to upgrade on a range-wide basis and the case for the investment has to be proven. I’ll leave that for another time.

Earlier today I published a number of photos illustrating some new Hirsch modified vehicles (9-3 and 9-5) from a dealership in Switzerland and those images got me thinking. There’s one area where the need to improve is acknowledged and a simple solution involving no investment, design or engineering costs is available right now…..

The interior of the Saab 9-3.

I still love the design of the 9-3 interior, despite them getting rid of that beautiful button dash (scroll down to the bottom). The new dash is simpler and easier to use, though not as sophisticated to my eye. Regardless of what I think, it’s a great design and right in line with saab’s ergonomic approach to design.

Most buyers will remain happy with it, but many who see it and use it comment on the materials. The Saab 9-3 dash does feature a lot of hard black plastics, which are also present elsewhere in the interior.

Hirsch have interior kits available in Europe right now that could address this issue. And what’s more, those interior kits would address it in a way that would put Saab interiors in a very competitive place relative to the competition.

Hirsch’s interior leather kit is made of full grade premium leather that’s embossed with a carbon fibre structure. They call it carbon leather and it looks fantastic. It’s totally unique, retains the ‘darkroom’ philosophy and would create a much more ambient experience for occupants. Further to that, it’d do away with the silver strip around the dash that aroud 50% of drivers complain about (not that I’ve ever found it a distraction, myself).

Here’s the carbon leather dash installed in a 9-3 Convertible. Click to enlarge.

As you can see, the difference is subtle, but much more elegant and premium in feel. I can’t imagine a 2007-onwards Saab owner who’s currently lukewarm about his dash materials not being impressed if they had this instead.

Add to that the other carbon leather accents that are available for door handles, handbrake and smartslot and you’ve given the 9-3 interior a subtle yet substantial makeover that justifies the premium tag (memo to Hirsch – please start work on indicator stalks!).

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Late last year I asked Steve Shannon about the possibility of bringing Hirsch to the US in a phone interview that covered various subjects. Steve indicated that right now they don’t see that happening, though he admitted that it had been some time since someone had looked at the business case for it.

I’m not aiming this at Steve, he’s just the guy in the chair at SaabUSA right now …. but someone needs to look at this and look at it properly. When I asked Steve about this he spoke about doing the sums using the number of cold air induction kits they’d be likely to sell etc, and it sounded like they were some sort of boy-racer tuning company with high-volume low-value products.

That’s not Hirsch.

And I’m sorry to say it, but it reflects on how little knowledge SaabUSA had (or have) about what Hirsch do. To be fair, Steve was still fairly new to Saab at that time and I imagine his tuning experience would be relatively focused on the US market and it’s suppliers. Regardless, there’s definitely a case to be made for Hirsch in the US.

This issue of Saab interiors is one area that could really be improved in Saab’s largest market by establishing the Hirsch relationship.

They’re not cheap, though, and if they were to be offered as standard (in an Aero, perhaps) then there’d have to be a buyer’s premium. Lifting prices is not an easy decision to make, but the brand perception would be lifted well and truly by the inclusion of this interior treatment, and I can’t imagine it would be a backwards step. The interior unit cost would likely be reduced by the added volume, anyway, so the hit wouldn’t need to be so large.

I just don’t see a downside here and the only barrier to it happening is a little bit of paperwork to establish the relationship. The component has already been designed and fitted to cars elsewhere. It won’t ever cause a mechanical issue that you’ll need to cover by warranty and it dramatically improves the cockpit of the vehicle.

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I’ve based this story around the US, but it could apply just as easily to Saab in any other country as well.

In fact, Saab could make things easier on everyone by making this a global product and taking each country’s relationship with Hirsch out of the equation.