The New 9-2X Features a Saab's Face and a Subaru's Heart
It turns out that Saab and Subaru might by from the same part of the automotive gene pool after all, since the Japanese company's compact Impreza wagon makes a pretty nice little Swedish car after all.
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| Although borrowing from Subaru's Impreza wagon, the new Saab 9-2X's exterior still looks very much like a smaller sibling of the 9-5 wagon. (Photo: General Motors) |
True enough, the 9-2X does not have the signature mark of a Saab, since the ignition is on the steering wheel column rather than the centre column. But the new Saab's exterior looks very much like a smaller sibling of the 9-5 wagon, there's a goodly amount of stoic luxury in the interior, and it will go like stink if you give it a chance.
On top of that, the 9-2X is supposed to sell for US$22,000 in the U.S., and that means it's likely to cost less than $30,000 when it goes on sale on Canada Day, 2004. Prices will of course go up from there, but a Saab hasn't carried that low of a starting price tag in Canada since 1997, and this new model is a better car.
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| All-wheel drive on the 9-2X is perhaps the most vivid example yet of the benefits related to Saab and Subaru being part of GM's worldwide alliance network. (Photo: General Motors) |
In the first place, the 9-2X will have full-time all-wheel-drive, which is an excellent thing if you're looking for a little better performance or a little more safety.
This addition to the Saab canon comes courtesy of Subaru, which has been in the all-wheel-drive passenger car business for about 30 years. It is perhaps the most vivid example yet of the benefits related to Saab and Subaru being part of GM's worldwide alliance network.
GM brokered this arrangement, with Subaru supplying the basic car design for Saab to transmorph in exchange for a lot of investment money and engineering work on things like environmental controls that the small Japanese firm no longer has to do.
However it works behind the scenes, I don't think it will matter to people looking for what Peter Augustsson, Saab's president and CEO, calls "a unique and early offering in a car segment just emerging in the North American market -- the premium sports compact segment."