SAAB ITS NEW ENTRY IN THE LUXURY AUTO SECTOR
Move over Mercedes. Look out Audi. Beware BMW, there’s a new player in the all-important luxury sport sedan market. Saab has unveiled its new 9-5 sports sedan and has taken aim at the rest of the industry as the ‘other’ luxury make ups its stake in the industry.
Many industry insiders predicted that the new Saab 9-5 would never see the light of day. The current 9-5 has grown dated and out of style and seemed to be little more than Saab’s placeholder in the luxury auto market. The announcement of General Motors’ bankruptcy further heightened rumors that the 9-5 was a dead concept, but Saab’s purchase by exotic car maker Koenigsegg means the new Saab will hit showrooms sometime in the second quarter of 2010.
Devotees of the Swedish make won’t be disappointed by the new design. Unlike other recent designs that have seemed to be little more than Saab’s version of competitor models, this car is all Saab, including some of the quirky additions that the maker is known for. The driver compartment has been retooled, with green gauges, day/night switches, heads-up displays, and analog gauges patterned after aircraft readouts. The interior overall is far more roomy that previous model Saabs, giving ample leg and headroom to the driver and passengers in the front and back of the auto.
Outside the car has a totally new look, and will certainly make its competitors head back to the drawing boards. At first look it’s clear that Saab has a background in the aircraft industry. The car’s shape is sleek, clean, and aerodynamic. The front windscreen cleanly wraps around the front of the cabin, and blends cleanly into the side glasses. There are no gaping duct inlets, no fender vents, and no protruding aero. The car resembles a ‘cleaned-up’ model about to be sent to the wind tunnel instead of a production model ready for the showroom floor, and it should. The car borrows many design elements from Saab’s Aero-X Coupe concept car that debuted with much fanfare several years ago.
The front and rear lighting system has been completely retooled and it shows. The front headlamps wrap around the fender and feature day running lamps as well as accent lamps. In back the lights blend cleanly into the car’s overall look, and feature accent lights as well.
Saab fans will also be happy to know that major retooling has been done to the 9-5 under the hood as well. Saab has long been an industry leader in turbocharger technology and it shows in the 9-5’s power-plant options. Saab has always been a proponent of pairing turbochargers with small displacement engines, and it does so again with 2010 9-5. The base model engine will be a turbocharged 2.0 liter, 220-horsepower V-6, but a treat awaits those who favor the sport side of the sports sedan sector. For the driver looking for driving excitement Saab is offering a force-fed, 300-horsepower 2.8 liter engine paired exclusively to Saab’s lauded cross-wheel drive (XWD) system. European consumers will also have the option of a turbocharged 160-horsepower diesel engine. It is unclear when the diesel engine will make its debut in America, but with green initiatives and mileage conscious consumers powering the diesel market in America there’s little doubt that it will eventually reach western shores.
The 2010 9-5 is also significant for Saab as a company because of it’s “All Swedish” bloodline. The car is the first ground up machine for Saab since its purchase by Swedish exotic maker Koenigsegg, and the car will be built in Sweden instead of at the Opel plant in Germany like most present Saab models.
The new Saab will hit showrooms in 2010 with plenty of buzz preceding its arrival. Fans of the Saab name will be pleased with the new car’s adherence to the company’s legacy, and new fans will be born out of the car’s new innovations and striking looks. There’s no guarantee that the Saab company will survive the turbulent automotive market and its downturn, but the new 9-5 will certainly help the make keep its head above water for a while longer.
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