That changes with the newest iteration of the 9-3 from Sweden, since the GM-owned firm has set its cap at the premium compact sport sedan category, threatening to ''set new standards'' in the process.
That's not the first shot fired across the bow of the BMW 3-Series, of course, but this time there's very little bluster attached to it. This time there seems to be something like a grim determination to give Beemer a run for its money.
This starts with the exterior shape, which leaves no room for confusion about the car's intent. They were going for a strong, sporty stance with a low drag co-efficient (0.28) and they've accomplished that. The fact that it's missing most of the classic Saab profile probably won't matter.
Much more important to the 9-3's chances in this category is a chassis that Saab promises will ''deliver a level of driving involvement and pleasure that challenges the class benchmark.''
The 9-3 is the first car we'll be able to buy that uses GM's Epsilon architecture, which will be used on five or six cars around the world and is supposed to deliver each and every one of them a better chassis than they could have if they'd been developed separately.
s a result, the new 9-3 is the product of the most exhaustive development program in chassis dynamics undertaken by Saab. One of the payoffs there is a structural rigidity that's twice as good as the previous model.