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LOS ANGELES -- Saab Automobile AB plans to begin distribution to China some time in 2011. A deal is expected to be signed by year end, CEO Jan Ake Jonsson said this week. “Until we launch the new 9-3 at the end of 2012, it will be just a couple of thousand units (annually), all based on imports. As we lead up to this, we have to make a decision if and when we are going to introduce local manufacturing in China,” Jonsson said on the sidelines of the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Among the issues to be resolved by the end of this year is “defining the dealer network” in China, he said. Saab needs to be present in five or six cities, with a total of 10 to 15 dealers, he said. A distribution deal for Russia also is expected to be announced by the end of the year. Details were not revealed. If a decision is made to assemble vehicles in China, production would begin with the next-generation 9-3. The 9-5 and the upcoming 9-4X crossover would be imported. ...

Source: Saab Newsroom

The 9-4X is a very important car for the US market and it was great to offer journalists the chance to shoot it as well as speak to the product experts prior to the official motorshow reveal. ...

(Reuters) - The future of Spyker's (SPYKR.AS) Saab rests on finding more manufacturing partners and bringing down the number of cars it must sell to break even, its executives said.

The company hopes to cut costs by finding automakers to share vehicle platforms, Spyker Chief Executive Officer Victor Muller and Saab President and CEO Jan Ake Jonsson told the Reuters Global Auto Summit on Tuesday. The company is talking to potential partners, Muller said, but he declined to name any. Muller said the company is in talks with "a few" potential partners to share its new Saab 9-3 platform.

Car platforms represent the basic architecture and engineering behind a vehicle and can take hundreds of millions of dollars and four years or more to develop. For that reason, automakers including Ford Motor Co and General Motors Co are pushing to use the high-cost platforms across more models that can be sold globally, a move that reduces costs and improves profitability. Jonsson said Saab's target is to break even at sales of 85,000 cars annually. But he said that the niche automaker currently needs "north of 100,000" vehicle sales to break even. ...

One Lap Of America - 8700 miles in seven days



Saab 99 - Starter Classic



Monte Carlo Rally - by Stirling Moss and Erik Carlsson ...

The November wallpapers have been up for a while... looking at new backgrounds now!





Click on the images to download in many different sizes. ...

There was a member on another Saab forum who scanned his very large library of Saab-related magazine articles, He kindly agreed to have these articles made available on my previous website of archived Saab materials and I am slowly making everything available here on SaabWorld in The Archives. There is a lot of good stuff still coming and I am adding new material regularly. Thanks again Stigs!

Here are two articles about the Saab EV-1. One is in Swedish but you don't need a translation for the pictures. ...

The Gwatney family have sold cars in Memphis, Tennessee (USA) area for over 50 years. Harold, the father, started car dealer ownership within the famly and his two sons, Russell and Bill, eventually owned and operated three car dealerships in or near Memphis. Russell was the first to move from Arkansas to Memphis is 1988 and acquired a Chevrolet dealer. When the concept of Saturn came out, Russell was an early leader in sales of the car.

In early 1990, the Gwatney family had the first ground breaking of a Saturn dealership in the world. The Saturn line was to be introduced later that year. The Gwatney's dealership opened on October 25, 1990, the day that the first 25 Saturn dealers opened simultaneously. Unfortunately, despite much positive press, Saturn production was discontinued by General Motors, the parent company, in 2009. "We are kind of in on the alpha and omega (of the Saturn story)," Russell Gwatney told the Commercial Appeal, the main newspaper of Memphis. ...

Scandinavian choice for the crossover segment

• Saab enters growing crossover segment
• Progressive Scandinavian design inspired by Aero X concept
• Car-like driving dynamics challenge best-in-class performance
• Advanced Saab XWD mated with Saab DriveSense adaptive chassis
• Spacious cabin, driver-focused cockpit and ample storage
• Compact, light, efficient engines: 265 hp 3.0V6i and 300 hp 2.8V6 turbo
• Flexible cargo management system

Read the full press release here: link ...

Thinking of buying a 2011 Saab? If so, you'll soon have the ability to watch it come together before your eyes; Saab is installing cameras in its Trollhättan factory. Customers will receive text messages with photos of their cars as they reach certain points in the assembly line. Eventually, Saab plans to add a real-time video feed of the cars being built. This sounds way more interesting than most reality television shows.

In addition to the cameras going in, Saab will soon offer customers the opportunity to take delivery of their cars right from the factory. The automaker says it is moving back towards building cars with a more personal touch, by manufacturing cars to order rather than churning out a steady stream of vehicles. ...