John D attended the New York International Auto Show on behalf of Trollhattan Saab and saw the Saab 9-X BioPower Concept in person. This is part 2 of his diary from that trip.

Part 1 is here. Click on any of the photos to enlarge.

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On Wednesday morning I got up bright and early to get a head start on the day and headed down to the Javits center. I knew that I had to get myself situated because I was scheduled to interview Steve Shannon at 9:00am and then Jan-Ake Jonsson at 9:45.

I arrived by 8:15, which gave me a chance to look at a few cars before I had to do my interview. I saw the Nissan guys rehearsing the release of the new Maxima. I don’t know but it has hints of the Old Infiniti Q45 in the nose.

Then I went to look at the new car that is coming to where I work. The new Infiniti FX 50 with its punched out 5.0 litre V-8 pushing out 390hp. This horsepower war is just never going to end anytime soon. Whether it’s in a car, a truck or an SUV, but I digress because I will be the first person who says “Give me more Power”, even if what I have is sufficient.

I went in search of the SAAB booth and found it tucked in neatly behind the Cadillac area and sandwiched in next to the Hummers and the new Smart car for America. This is a curious little car that I always thought was a cool concept. But I’m surprised that the release in America is with a 3-cylinder NA motor instead of the turbocharged version in the rest of the world. Ok, back to the cars that I was here for…..

As you walk into the SAAB booth you are greeted by all white cars except for the Turbo-X, which is waiting silently in a black suit. With the 9-4x and the 9xBioHybrid tucked in behind gleaming brightwork.

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The media day for the New York Auto Show is done and dusted, and Trollhattan Saab was there.

John D turned up on our collective behalves. He got wined, dined and shown around Saab’s new concepts by various GM personnel. The following is Part 1 of his reportage from the event:

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Well I’ve just returned from my whirlwind trip to the Big Apple for this years New York Auto Show. And I must say what an interesting 24 hours I just had. Thanks to GM’s Communications group I had a door to door all-access pass to the show.

I left my house at 7:00am to catch a 9:30 shuttle flight so I could roll into the Peninsula Hotel in time to be whisked off to a Buick Luncheon at The Cipriani Restraunt with a group of eight other bloggers that GM invited to the show.

I know the Riviera concept came out last year, but what an incredible car! Seeing this car in person it has presence. For Buick I rank this car up there with the Aero-X. It is quite a stunning looking coupe that just shows what these young designers can do. There is definitely no lack of talent in the GM pool.

We got to hear about a new Buick sedan called the Invicta, which will debut in Shanghai and is destined for production sometime real soon. The designers who worked on this project were very happy with the results. David Lyon, the Executive Director of Interior Design, and Lead Designer Justin Thompson spoke as to what they have been working on the last few years.

I came away from that presentation with a renewed hope that the designs coming out of GM are going to really be world class if they can just bring these “Design Studies” to life effectively.

After we left Ciprianis we had some time to kill before our next meal so I just chilled out for a few hours getting myself situated in New York. While all the PR people were waiting down in the Lobby, I had the chance to speak to Jan-Willem Vester (PR head honcho, SaabUSA), whom I always enjoy having conversations with about everything SAAB, or anything else automotive for that matter.

Then it was off to another meal with Christopher Barger as our point man for the trip, riding around like the Secret Service in a bunch of Black Suburbans.

We arrived at The Park Restaurant for lots of red wine, and another great meal. I had the great pleasure of getting to sit with David Lyon and Bryan Nesbitt along with Jan-Willem for dinner. We discussed the design of the two newest SAAB’s and where they fall into there market segment and what seems right and wrong. It was very interesting when we just spoke of designs in general and what has and hasn’t worked. Car talk with dinner and a drink make for a very entertaining evening, and once again I see the eye of designers who like what I like and are of the same mindset.

So after our meal it was across the street to the IAC building for our SAAB 9x BioHybrid reveal. However this was done with a little flair as a fashion show for the SAAB Reflective line. It was mentioned to me that a reveal was not in the cards for the NYIAS itself but beforehand in a separate venue for various reasons.

One reason may be because the 9xBioHybrid is a little rough in its completion. It sounded like it had been really put together in a short period of time. Bryan Nesbit commented that they had wanted to put this design to clay for quite some time.

However it was quite a little party and the refreshments flowed with abundance. And the slick little Ice Bar with Bombay Sapphire sitting in it didn’t hurt. As for the party atmosphere for the launch it seemed a bit odd but I’ve never been to one of these gigs before so I didn’t know what to expect.

Warning SAAB Content:

As for the reveal of the 9-4x, which I’ve only seen in photos and then the 9xBioHybrid, I must say that photos cannot do these cars justice. The 9x is a very unique looking vehicle and it really looks every bit a SAAB. In a touch of the past they have finally brought back the 99/900 wraparound windshield, as well as an inverted hockey stick on the C pillar.

The size is right for the segment, but GM wants to make sure that the premium small size car is a viable class to let SAAB have a stab at. I say if they start off with a 240 hp 9x Aero XWD and then make a lower base FWD 2.0t that this vehicle could really bring newer customers into the brand and also get a lot of current owners picking up one of these as a FUN car.

Can you imagine a 9x WRC car that was running 300hp and showing its face all over Europe. It wouldn’t get as much exposure here but for these of you who know WRC you know what I mean. Hell we should ask David Lyon to pen the design since he did the Chevy WTCC concept that I really looked kick a$$.

GM must build this car, to be able to put more butts in seats they have to broaden the entire range of vehicle. And yes they are on the way with the 9-4x, and from what I was told the car has a few minor changes that Bryan, Jan-Willem and a few others said make it look even better than the concept. Granted its still eighteen months away before the new ute will be available we can still hope that SAAB are going to surprise at the coming auto shows.

There is a brighter light emanating from that GM tunnel that looks like SAAB may finally have a turnaround in its future with products that may become more desirable to the greater market so that our beloved mark is able to continue on down the road to tomorrow.

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Part II coming soon…….