Are New Models the Answer to Saab's Difficulties?Over the past few weeks there have been countless headlines in car magazines and newspapers across the globe stating that
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| Now that Subaru has been sold off to Toyota, is its platform-partner Saab doomed? (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
Saab is doomed, and for good reason. Lacking a clean bill of health due to ever-sliding sales, hampered by a miniscule product lineup and extremely strong competition, it looks as if Saab has little more than a dim future. To make matters worse, with the unexpected sale of General Motors' share in Fuji Heavy Industries, which builds Subaru, Saab's recent platform partner, to Toyota, it has been suggested that Saab's eleventh hour may be at hand.
A quick recap is necessary to grasp an understanding of the issues that Saab has been facing. While it's true that
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| A Japanese-built, all-wheel drive wagon powered by a horizontally-opposed engine, the 9-2X derived from Subaru's extremely capable Impreza, is being sold as a Saab. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
pointing fingers after the fact isn't always fair, plans made by upper management with respect to the brand don't seem all that bright. Saab's range in North America recently doubled, encompassing for the first time a Japanese-built, all-wheel drive wagon powered by a horizontally-opposed engine, the 9-2X derived from Subaru's extremely capable Impreza, and a durable, if not truck-like SUV called the 9-7x, pulled from GM's GMT360 midsize sport utility architecture that underpins the Chevy Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, and others. Either way, despite attempts to cover up these products with vaguely familiar front end treatments and a floor-mounted key, for the latter, there's no mistaking that these aren't real Saabs.
