Refreshingly enough, this isn’t a story about Saab’s troubles. Instead, it is a ray of hope as the Swedish carmaker lays out its plans for the future. These include a replacement for the aging 9-3 sedan, which according to Saab’s North American president, Tim Colbeck, will debut in the first quarter of 2013.
The new 9-3 will be an all-new model and will feature, as Colbeck says, an “edgy reinterpretation of design cues from the company’s past”, though he declined to elaborate.
What he did divulge though is that Saab is seriously contemplating dropping the 9-3 moniker and adopting another one from the company’s heritage: “There’s a chance we might move away from that” was his statement.
Colbeck also revealed that Saab has plans for the development of a smaller model which would be a modern-day successor to the 92 that was produced from the late ‘40s till the mid-50s: “It wasn’t in the business plan prior to the new investment, and now it is”.
In the meantime, the Swedish company said it will introduce in US this fall the 2012MY versions of the 9-4X and the 9-5 sedan and station wagon
Story sources: Autonews [Sub. Req.]
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