Saab plans new small car for the next decade

Saab 9-1 Artist's Impression

Once again word has surfaced on a small Saab to be positioned under the Saab 9-3 sedan. Saab’s last attempt at a sub-9-3 car was the Saab 9-2X or more fondly known as the “Saabaru”, which was a rebadge of the Subaru Impreza station wagon. Saab only sold that for 2 years – 2005 and 2006. Saab wants to try again.

“It might be the most dramatically styled. The idea is to have an iconic shape. It wouldn’t be a toy. This is not a two-seat exotic roadster. It would have a level of functionality. It could be a hatchback. We don’t know yet,” says Steve Shannon, Saab’s general manager in the US. He further added that the new small Saab would target active 20 to 30 year olds. A target release date is sometime in the next decade.

Early 2006, there was word of a Saab 9-1, a small car to take on the likes of the BMW 1-Series and the Audi A3. The Saab 9-1 was to be based on the upcoming GM Delta II platform, which will also underpin new cars like the Chevrolet Volt. You will find an artist’s impression of the new small Saab at the beginning of this post.

Source

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Paul Tan

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Comments

  • cosmohybrid (Member) on Sep 04, 2007 at 8:32 am

    nice!! the body is so sleek…

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  • wildthingz (Member) on Sep 04, 2007 at 8:34 am

    mcm wish jer

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  • Capt Shopalot (Member) on Sep 04, 2007 at 9:33 am

    Should have come up earlier
    Look so nice!

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  • KL-ATR (Member) on Sep 04, 2007 at 10:05 am

    I saw the sketches of this quite a few years ago and it’s only now that they finally got it out. Looks much better than the artwork but Saab caters to a small group of enthusiasts so I wonder if this will attract enough sales considering the stiff established competition they face from Golf, Audi and BMW. 1-Series have not been doing well and even Volvo now have their C30.

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  • waimak (Member) on Sep 04, 2007 at 10:44 am

    Paul, anymore pics of this new saab?

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  • szw (Member) on Sep 04, 2007 at 1:36 pm

    looks like a suzuki swift to me .

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  • kei9 (Member) on Sep 04, 2007 at 2:26 pm

    I love SAAB!! great design philosophy…..especailly the new SAAB 9-3

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  • transformer (Member) on Sep 04, 2007 at 2:44 pm

    looks nice!
    is that a 17″ or 18″ ? WoW!

    much much better than its 9-5 evil front faschia!

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  • DrA (Member) on Sep 04, 2007 at 2:48 pm

    Nice car. Hope it can beat BMWs dynamic. It looks the part anyway.

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  • lowprofile (Member) on Sep 04, 2007 at 3:00 pm

    saab will never beat BMW’s dynamics with fwd. and, from my experience with the brand, waiting for something new from saab is like waiting for it to snow in malaysia… it never happens. and if it did happen, it would be some half hearted effort… also probably because they didn’t have the cash to go the full journey. the 9-3 facelift looks nice but just look inside, same interior quality when they just launched the car in 2002. underneath, same chassis with no significant changes. and their effort in promoting their bio fuel tech is only applicable to a few countries in europe. no use to the rest of the world.

    could be the swedes dunno really what they are doing, they seem lost. or it could be that GM is starving them of cash but whatever it is, they’ll never sell in big numbers here. thanks to the brilliance of bmw and mercedes-benz. today, nobody will consider a CBU saab against a CKD german make. it’s just too expensive. plus, your neighbout will think you made a really big mistake in buying a car whose name he can’t pronounce correctly.

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  • mzfnd (Member) on Sep 04, 2007 at 10:39 pm

    That’s a cool car but I’ve been neglecting SAAB for the sole reason that I don’t like the brand name. Call me silly, but if we have a new car manufacturer with the brand name WAHAB, I’m not going to care either.

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  • ingolstadt (Member) on Sep 05, 2007 at 12:18 am

    To lowprofile:

    Saab is starved of cash. Consider that, they are doing very well i would say.

    RWD is good for car mag editors on test tracks or driving at speeds. FWD is good for everything else.

    Yeah, BMW or Merc pawn them on sales but mind you over-popular stufss are always never good for their core consumers, or target consumers. These are luxury cars, and when luxury items became overtly popular, the consumption for such items will slowly creep beyond their target market. You will then see saloon bosses (auntie), vcd pirates, samsengs buying BMW and Merc, just like how they would purchase LV and Hermes, or Rolex and not Patek Phillipe.

    To have a Saab, you can almost assure yourself those that you stumble upon driving the same model, would most probably be only elites as well. Drive a BMW 3 Series and see what kinda other ‘people’ drives them. You’d be awestruck.

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  • lowprofile (Member) on Sep 05, 2007 at 8:56 am

    ingolstadt,

    i used to think like that. yup, the saab is definitely an acquired taste but in a market like ours, the low brand acceptance does not make it possible for the importer to continue pushing the brand. there is no way to compete in such a price sensitive market as ours. there is just no pull factor for the buyers, most of whom are pretty well to do and like you said, do not want to associate themselves with those who buy the german luxury makes. the problem is that there are just not enough of these buyers in malaysia and sadly, i predict that the brand will again be only available in neighbouring countries.

    saab only makes about 150k cars a year. these figures aren’t even enough for proton to survive. what more a so-called mid-luxury car maker with higher operating costs from sweden. talk of moving some production to germany at opel’s russelsheim plant may help the quality bit but the cost is likely to remain high. that high cost will definitely ensure that the brand is disadvantaged even before it is shipped to malaysia.

    at least i can be happy that there will always be saab enthusiasts in malaysia as evidenced in the saab club site. at least these people will uphold the brand long when the brand has left our shores, yet again.

    but i’m glad you wrote what you wrote ingolstadt, with people like you around, there could still be hope for the brand in malaysia. you just need to convince more to be like you for saab to have a fighting chance here.

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  • avanza (Member) on Sep 05, 2007 at 2:30 pm

    Yep, looks like the Suzuki Swift.

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  • lowprofile (Member) on Sep 07, 2007 at 12:02 pm

    Article from MyTrolls.com (Malaysian Saab Club Site) and Trollhattansaab.net in verbatim:

    Is a Saab for you?

    If you’re after the epitome of refined driving, whatever that is, then maybe a Saab isn’t for you. Maybe you should try a Lexus.

    If you’re after supreme roadholding in high speed corners, then maybe a Saab isn’t for you. I hear BMW do that stuff quite well.

    If you’re not sure whether you want a performance car or a luxury car, then every Audi ever made is just like you.

    If you’re looking for an engine that screams at high revs, ‘cuase you like that sort of thing, a Saab probably isn’t for you. You should probably check out a performance Honda.

    If you want gadgets that tell you what all your other gadgets are doing, Saab probably isn’t for you either.

    If you want rock solid reliability and the soul of a car doesn’t matter to you, forget Saab. Maybe you should shop for a Toyota.

    If you want butterflies to kiss you and fish to jump on your hook in thanks for you apparent environmental goodness, then maybe a Prius is what you’re after. Maybe.

    If you want people to openly admire how well you’ve done for yourself then a Saab definitely isn’t for you. I can point you towards a couple of Mercedes dealers.

    If you’re having a mid-life crisis then a red MX-5 is just around the corner.

    If the only real engine in your mind is a V8, mate, then your local Ford or Holden dealership is the place to go.

    But if you love driving and have a history of forming links and attachments with the cars you own and the people that make them, then maybe a Saab might suit you.

    But if you’re after a car made by a company with a history of innovation, perhaps a Saab’s worth considering.

    If you like the rush of a turbocharger and find torque steer to be somewhat interesting, then it’s quite likely that a Saab’s for you.

    If you want the best seats in the business….

    ….and fantastic cabin ergonomics….

    ….if you love the idea of V6 performance from a four cylinder engine…

    ….and the possibility to uprate it even higher….

    ….then maybe you should be looking at a Saab.

    If you want innovations that make sense, like headlamps wired into the ignition, a dash that can be de-luminated at night except for the information you need and heated seats, for example, then perhaps a Saab is what you’re looking for.

    If you enjoy owning a brand of car that has a big and enthusiastic ownership base that you can connect with, then a Saab should definitely be on your list.

    If you can look at this picture and know exactly what it means, then maybe a Saab is for you.

    If you like the smell of two-stroke, perhaps a Saab might suit you.

    If you want to be able to carry recliner chairs, washing machines, motorcycles, large amounts of musical equipment, or whatever else in your own car and not have them delivered, an older Saab hatch would be perfect for you.

    If you like the idea of owning a sleeper, then a Saab could be what you’re looking for.

    If you like the fact that you don’t see your own car on the road every 10 2 minutes, well….

    And if you like the idea of driving what’s proven to be one of the safest cars in the world in both crash test and real world environments, maybe a Saab is what you’re after.

    Most of all, if you want all these attributes – safety, comfort, performance, fun, responsibility, utility, innovation, history, anonymity and exclusivity – all in the one car…..

    …..then maybe a Saab is for you.

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  • proton.GL.. (Member) on Sep 07, 2007 at 5:07 pm

    for me ,the SAAB-est of the SAAB is the 900 turbo of the eighties,

    http://www.fastenbelts.com/saabcarsonline/GoldGallery/o11.htm

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  • JULIANLEE2 (Member) on Sep 07, 2007 at 7:07 pm

    lets hope it will revive saab

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  • mzfnd (Member) on Sep 07, 2007 at 11:37 pm

    That is so SAAB, proton.GL.

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  • leonardo on Aug 20, 2011 at 11:08 pm

    just needs smoother rims and stronger hood. the front is a bit Japanese.

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