SaabWorld - Forum - Saab at the Geneva Motor Show

UPDATE: Saab Press Conference video added.
UPDATE2: Official Saab pictures added at the bottom

The Geneva Motor Show is the largest event for Saab this year. They introduced the Saab Phoenix concept car, the Saab 9-5 SportCombi and the IQon infotainment system. There was great anticipation for this show by the press and many Saab enthusiasts. These new cars and technology set the direction where Saab will be headed in the near future and it is amazing what they have accomplished in just one year after becoming an independent company last year.

SaabWorld doesn't have any reporters at the Motor Show but the French Saab site Saablog-In kindly gave permission to use their pictures on SaabWorld to share with our international members and visitors. Our sincere thanks to Jeff and Etienne for these excellent images! Make sure to visit their site for the latest news and pictures from Geneva.

Saab PhoeniX

Jason Castriota and his design team created this striking concept car. He mentioned "You'll either love it or hate it" a while ago and now we know exactly what he meant with that. It's a radical departure from the previous concept cars but it seems that's just what Saab needs right now. Some of the technologies and design will make it to future Saabs and some (fortunately) are just a design exercise.

The first CGI images of the PhoeniX leaked to the internet the night before the show which was unfortunate. The actual cars often look much better in person and this concept is no exception. Find out more about the PhoeniX here: link

Saab 9-5 SportCombi
The (un)official introduction of the Saab 9-5 was during the Independence Day celebrations on February 23rd. Geneva is the official introduction to the general public and it is the most important car for Saab right now. And especially in Europe where station wagons outnumber sedans in sales. Click to go to the Press Release and Independence Day pictures of the Saab 9-5 SportCombi.

Notice the large ice blocks in the background. These are actually made from real ice and need to be cooled down with dry ice every night to make them last through the show.

IQon infotainment system
This Android-based system will be developed for all Saab cars by Swedish company Cybercom. It's an interesting choice for an open-source platform and fits perfectly with an independent and progressive company like Saab.

Cybercom is partnering with Saab to develop an open infotainment system for the next generation of Saab automobiles. Saab is expected to be first in the world to adopt Android as a commercial platform. This project puts Cybercom at the absolute forefront of in-car communication platforms.

Users will be able to download a wide range of applications, online services and multi-media functions provided through a Saab IQon store. Saab will issue third-party developers with a vehicle application programming interface (API) providing access to more than 500 signals from different sensors in the vehicle. These measure, for example, vehicle speed, location and direction of travel, driver workload, yaw rate, steering wheel angle, engine speed and torque, inside and outside temperature, barometric pressure and the sun’s position.

Saab 9-3 Convertible Limited Edition

Inspired by the colors of the Dutch royal family, Saab introduced this limited edition 9-3 Convertible last week. Only 366 of these will be made. 366 is the number of days since independence from GM + 1 for the fist anniversary. The car at the show is #001 and Victor Muller purchased #007 for his private collection.

This Convertible shows the new exterior enhancements for the entire 9-3 model range. The new front-end is a nice refreshing look and it is difficult to imagine this 9-3 was introduced back in 2002.