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Good stuff from the January '05 edition of Motor Trend Magazine.
Saab's future
"Saab builds the Eplison 9-3 and the 9-5 in Trollhatten; Opel build the Epsilon Vectra in Russelsheim, Germany. Its more expensive to build cars in Germany, but cheaper in Sweden. The smart money is on moving Vectra production North, where it would be built with Saabs and a new Europe-only front-drive Cadillac. Opel would continue to build other models in Germany. With Michael Mauer having left for Porsche, GM-Opel design chief Bryan Nesbitt is now in charge of Saab design. Saab maintains an advanced studio in Sweden, led by Anthony Lo. Bob Lutz says diluting Saab isn't an issue. Consider that its earliest models were powered by DKW two-stroke engines and Ford V-4s.
I don't think the Swedishness of Saab has to suffer by being built in other places. The Saab brand character is important, but I don't believe a design group has to be located in Sweden. Just as I don't think a Cadillac design group has to be in Detroit."
On profitability
"Saab is an extremly interesting, valuable brand, but it doesn't have a history of making money."
On quirkiness
The 9-2X and 9-7X pose a certain short term risk to the integrity of the brand. But if we didn't put them into the US, we wouldn't lose dealers. then the best cars can't get sold. You guys [the press] like weird Saabs, but we can't live off that.
Lutz says the next 9-5, already years overdue, could use a stretched Epsilon platform, but why do that when the 9-3 is already an Epsilon? he says Saabs must be front or all-wheel drive, and that the next 9-5 could use the Zeta architecture, which would make it an AWD based on RWD, an odd twist of the Jaguar X-type AWD trick."
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