Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Saab
The future of the Saab 9-5
The Saab 9-5 is the automotive equivalent of an octogenarian. Most manufacturers debut a revised model every four years, sometimes three, sometimes five, but the 9-5 has been around for over eight years now and it shows.The UK's Car magazine cobbled together what facts are already known and combined them with some insider knowledge to come up with a few renderings of the future of the 9-5. The article itself isn't just pure stylist speculation, but gives a rough idea of both the looks and underpinnings of Saab's new mid-size sedan.
The styling takes cues from the AeroX concept car from this year's Geneva show and is clearly trying to get some of that coupe-meets-sedan cred that Mercedes made so popular with the CLS. As for mechanicals, you can expect that the new 9-5 will be based off GM's Epsilon II platform that will underpin the Opel/Saturn side of things. The platform will likey undergo some serious revisions, namely to the suspension and steering components, before being employed into the new Saab.
Naturally, FWD will be the order of the day, but AWD will be an option, as will the choice of either a common rail diesel V6 or turbo'd V6 that is expected to put out over 350 HP.
[Source: Car]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
iQuack 7:29PM (11/03/2006)
Too bad GM won't bury the body. Saab has been a corpse for years and it's a waste for GM to pour more money into this hole.
Saabs are decent cars but nothing special since the 3 cylinder, 2 cycle Saabs of the late '50s to mid '60s.
Current Saabs offer no advantages over most other cars except what's been a quirky image for a few people who think they're individualists, or otherwise unique (they're not).
Better to lay Saab to rest and put GM's scarce resources elsewhere. Even without Saab, GM still has too many brands to support.
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pauln 7:34PM (11/03/2006)
Eight years? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm quite certain the 9-5 is a direct evolution of the old 900 that first saw the light of day in 1984 or 1985.
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Howard Kerr 7:49PM (11/03/2006)
A not too insignificant point:
the name of the journal mentioned in this article is CAR not CAR MAGAZINE. Does anyone call it CAR AND MAGAZINE...no, they call it the magazine named Car and Driver. or Car and Driver magazine (the word magazine is not part of the name of either of these journals).
I agree somewhat with iQuack, in that Saab's "claim to fame" was in building cars no one else was building. A areodynamically shaped small FWD sedan (at first powered by a 2 stroke 3 cylinder engine), in a period of VW Beetles and Ford Falcons...this was REALLY quirky. Then, a small FWD station wagon...it took VW and Audi 10 years to build a small wagon. After that came the Sonnet...a revolutionary FWD sports coupe? And later adding a hatch to the previously "trunkless" Sonnet. Again beating VW and Audi to the punch. Then the hatchback 99.
But GM decided that quirky could be added-on to an otherwise mainstream sedan and perhaps the end of Saab was started. It's unfortunate that Saab never was able to, for whatever reasons, retain quirkiness while expanding into untapped niches. Saab should have built a CUV along the lines of the Mazda CX-7 years ago, or a Sonnet successor along the lines of the Audi TT. GM both "saved" and killed Saab by their lack of investment at a pivotal (for Saab) time period. Saab's time is probably past.
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JON 7:50PM (11/03/2006)
The SAAB 900 of it's day was unique unto itself with it's curved windshield that dominated the design of the car and it's utilitarian design(spacious 2 and 4 dr.hatchbacks).SAABs were also high performance car that handled inclement weather with ease and bravado.Quite and dynamic combination.We didn,t call it that back then but it was kinda the first SPORT UTILITY CAR with a performance edge.
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narcszm 9:18PM (11/03/2006)
Interesting conjecture. Poorly done photochop. The Phaeton roof compressed just does not match what's going on below the belt line.
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RZ 9:20PM (11/03/2006)
SAAB is going down as fast as a Sweedish jet hit by a US made missile
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Josh E. Oliver 9:40PM (11/03/2006)
Epsilon II has yet to make it's debut and Saturn/Opel do not currently ride on it.
There is no EPII vehicle currenty on the market.
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tr 10:49PM (11/03/2006)
"the name of the journal mentioned in this article is CAR not CAR MAGAZINE. Does anyone call it CAR AND MAGAZINE...no, they call it the magazine named Car and Driver. or Car and Driver magazine (the word magazine is not part of the name of either of these journals)."
umm, if it's just CAR, then how come on their own site (www.carmagazine.co.uk, or hell, just click on the Read link above, and look to left side of the page), they refer to themselves as "CAR magazine"? perhaps they themselves are wrong about their name.
as for Saab, just bring back the hatchbacks.
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Adam 11:06PM (11/03/2006)
"Eight years? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm quite certain the 9-5 is a direct evolution of the old 900 that first saw the light of day in 1984 or 1985."
I'm pretty sure the Saab 900 became the 9-3 and the 9000 got the axe at the intro of the 9-5.
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thomas 11:22PM (11/03/2006)
The 9-5 is a completely new car from the 900 or 9-3. That underpinning died in 2002. I think the 9-5 is a very handsome and still perfectly good car. It rides quietly, it has been deemed one of the safest cars on the road, and is very reliable, even according to CR. Plus, because its has had the same design since 1999, it makes a great used car.
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MikeW 11:38PM (11/03/2006)
Two rear anti-roll bars, that is quirk.
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Dinger 2:17AM (11/04/2006)
pauln -
You are wrong.
The 900 of the 80's, the "C900" (c denotes "classic" to seperate it from the Opel based 900 made form 94-98) was made from 1979 to 1993 ('94 for the convertible). The C900 was based on the 99 which was introduced in 1969. In fact the door from a 1969 Saab 99 will bolt on to a 1993 Saab 900 and fit perfectly.
However they have nothing, except engine bore diameter, in common with the GM built 9-5.
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Jason 3:27AM (11/04/2006)
Those a-pilars are all wrong. That is Buick La Sabre styling from the 90's! Who at GM acutally thought Buick retro styling would work for Saab? And btw, the chopped up grille is something that puts the whole front end down. On the current model and on this. It is too hard on the eyes and mind to digest at a quick glance. Never going to make any friends when you make it a hard read at first blush. Sorry to see Saab die a slow death.
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mark 7:28AM (11/04/2006)
Saab lost everything but it's name when GM took over. Th c900s were fantastics cars, the next generation 900 under GM was sold with the tag 'the very new, very saab 900' on the tax disc holders (UK). A poor attempt at convincing pople it was still a saab. The only thing i think left of saab might have been the interior build quality back then. What did GM do with the ingenuity of the SAAB engineers?
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Trollhattan Saab 7:31AM (11/04/2006)
I'm glad a few of you sorted out that "900 became the 9-5 thing". Dead wrong.
The 9-5 needs a change only because change is the accepted norm. It's still a great car but the market expects more. The market ain't necessarily right, but the market does pay the bills.
Don't take this as what the car's going to be. It ain't a GM-Saab rendering, just an artist's impression. The word going around is that this next 9-5 is going to be a killer. And boy, do they need it.
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Howard Kerr 8:09AM (11/04/2006)
Re tr (and Damon Lavrinc?):
Go to a decent sized, metropolitan newstand. If they have the magazine, in the top left hand corner...where it's been on every month's cover for DECADES is the name of the magazine mentioned here.
IT SAYS CAR, NOT CAR MAGAZINE.
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Bookalon 8:39AM (11/04/2006)
it was the AeroX concept car from this year's Geneva show not the 9x, you have cover it enought times to have known it.
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Andy Rupert 9:59AM (11/04/2006)
I've owned three Classic 900s and a 9000 and have been disappointed by some of the things done by GM. However, I actually like this artist's rendition of the new 9-5. Three keys to success in my opinion: (1) turbocharged engine, (2) key in between the seats, and (3) clam shell hood. Take it or leave it, that's what I like about Saabs.
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Steven T. 1:46PM (11/04/2006)
GM should sell Saab to an automaker that knows what to do with it. I think Saab could still be viable if it returned to its roots of concentrating on advanced engineering.
There's plenty that can be done, but it will never happen under GM, which has great difficulty seeing any value in innovation that ventures much beyond trendy stylistic flourishes and cheap exercises in "branding."
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David F 2:22PM (11/04/2006)
The 900 was based on the same frame as the Cavalier. It became the 9-3 with a light refresh in the late 90s, then it was totally redesigned shortly after on the Epsilon platform.
The 9-5 was similarlly redesigned, and has nothing to do with the 9000. the switch to 9-3 and 9-5 marked the end of the hatchback for Saab.
I'm really excited to see the life that the Aero is pumping into the Saab brand. These are critical times for Saab, and it looks like GM is finally turning the corner when it comes to Saab. GM is finally taking a hard look at their gaping product weaknesses.
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