Automotive News have written a major story on an issue that first surfaced a few days ago. Back then it was rumours about the Chevy Cruze compact car being delayed. Today’s story concerns quite a lot of GM’s coming models being delayed due to funding problems putting constraints on research and development.

General Motors is postponing nearly all of its spending on product development in 2009 and 2010 — a cost-cutting move that could delay the introduction of key vehicles such as the Chevrolet Cruze.

The automaker also is cutting spending on engineering, design and r&d, say sources familiar with GM’s plans. So far, nothing has been officially canceled, but nearly everything is delayed, the sources say.

“The 2009 stuff that’s too late to cancel is coming out, then everything else gets pushed out anywhere between three months and up to a year,” said one of the sources. “It’s not just capital budget; it’s also engineering, design … everything that would cause money to flow out in 2009.”

There’s nothing about Saab mentioned directly in the Automotive News story, but then we have this, which came through TS earlier today…..

Sorry to say this but on a meeting today i got the information that 9-5 is delayed. The number of try-out builds are also reduced but i dont know if or how that affect the geneva show.

Guys, this circus is going nowhere but down. I also got some other ‘what-the-heck-is-going-on-here” info…but i guess the 9-5 is enough of bad news for you..

…..and I can confirm from the information I’ve seen associated with that comment that the commenter knows what he’s talking about.

I imagine that Saab will still show the car in Geneva, though it seems that in this current climate, nothing is certain. What seems highly likely is that the 2010 Saab 9-5 won’t come out for sale late in 2009, as we assumed.

GM are going to proceed with vehicles that are near production already. Vehicles such as the Buick Lacrosse, Chevy Traverse and Cadillac CTS wagon will go ahead. Similarly, they’ll proceed with the Chevrolet Volt as that vehicle is seen as essential for the near-term future of the company.

Saab? Not so essential from the company point of view.

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For those who haven’t been following it themselves, the GM/Chrysler merger story is still well and truly alive. In fact, multiple sources are now saying that the deal is all but done, with GM lobbying the US government for funds to complete the deal. The government cash would provide an equity stake in the merged company that I’m guessing the government would able to sell down the track.

This means that GM would have a whole lot of brand/people/dealer cutting to do. Where that would leave Saab, I don’t know.

Would GM use it as an opportunity?

I know they’ve committed to Saab etc etc, but that was before their entire world was turned on its head. I’ve got a feeling that the GM we’ll all be observing in 12 months from now will be quite different to what we’re seeing today.

I’m not trying to scaremonger here, but I am pretty sure that September-to-December 2008 is going to be seen as a defining time for GM, should they survive the next 12 months.

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Auto Motor and Sport published what we believe might be the first 2010 Saab 9-5 mule photo we’ve seen so far. It was all Opel Insignia on the outside, but it had this on the inside:

I’ve tried (in vain) to clear that one up a little so that we can tell a little more from it. It hasn’t worked that well, but I think it’s a little better.

Given that the dash seemed to fit so neatly into what we assume is a standard Insignia shell – it might be another toad for all we know – I thought it’d be interesting to try and do a direct comparison between the two.

So I took our photo above and tried as best I could to match it in size with this photo of the Insignia interior:

Next I dropped them both into Photoshop Elements and played with their respective opacities, trying to basically superimpose one upon the other. Again, I only had a marginal amount of success as the respective angles of the photos were different. And then there’s all that glare from the 9-5 shot.

Anyway, I think it still made for an interesting experiment. Here’s the graduated results:

What can we see here?

Well, thanks to all that glare, we can see nowhere near as much as we’d like to. But…..there’s still some definite Saab cues here as well as some points of similarity.

The 9-5 dash looks to be retaining that cockpit-like, driver-focused shape and direction. The angles of the photos are a little deceptive and make it look like the 9-5 dash is pushed in much more towards the driver. It won’t be so far to the driver’s side as these shots indicate, but it’ll still retain that distinctive Saab form.

The satnav screen is similarly positioned to a current 9-5 screen rather than up high as in the Insignia. The green lighting is another obvious point of difference.

One thing I’d be interested to know is whether this test mule is testing the dash only, or the full front interior of the car. The reason I’m wondering is that apart from what looks like a start button near the gearshift, that gearshift area looks almost identical between the two cars.

There’s not a whole lot we can tell based on the quality of the AMS photo, but it’s fun to try and really does whet the appetite for what’s going to possibly be Saab’s most important new model in a decade or so.

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Saab 9-5 mules have been quite scarce and with the new version expected on display in Geneva early next year, AMS are starting to get twitchy. Someone from AMS spotted a car with an Opel Insignia face and a lot of tape on it. When he looked closer, past the Opel badge on the steering wheel, the shape of the dash gave away the possibility that it might have been something else all together.

The original article with more pictures is here at Auto Motor and Sport. You Swedes should go there and read it in your native tongue.

Here’s the main image of interest. It’s grainy and there’s a LOT of reflection off the glass, but this could be the best close-up glimpse we’ve got of the new 9-5 so far.

What we can see here is a departure from Saab’s traditional all-green interior lighting. The lighting on the console seems to be green with the exception of the controls on the left. The lighting on the steering wheel appears to be red, which may be because it’s an Opel wheel (or maybe because that’s how it’s going to be). It’d be very odd to see two different colors in there, though.

What’s leading people to think this is a 9-5 interior, of course, is the shape of the dash. It’s certainly not the Insignia dash shape, so the badging on the car doesn’t accurately reflect what’s inside.

The mind boggles, but the body’s tingling with the thought that this could be the first genuine glimpse we’re getting of the car.

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Following is a Google translation of the bit on AMS that pertains to the interior.

Again, for more images and the original story from Par Brandt, in Swedish, click through to Auto Motor and Sport.

Some rumors claim that the 9-5 is being tested in the U.S., where it does not arouse much attention. Others argue that Saab carries out testing and mask the car as an Opel Insignia, which we believe we have demonstrated for a few days ago. Lars Ryefalk were coming over from Denmark on the ferry when he quoted a closet Insignia, which is a bit odd given that the car has been out for a long time now.

When Lars looked into the car he saw the Opel-wheel first, but then thought that the interior looked “Saab” out. A few quick pictures with mobile camera, then it was time to run out of the ferry. Lars waiting to hear what engine it was in the car, but “Insignian” refused to start and therefore it was not possible to determine whether it was gasoline or diesel. Lars thought that backdoor makers saw joins out and wonder if it can be a Saab-chassis hiding behind Insignia-chariot? Maybe!

Woohaa!!!

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