http://www.autoblog.com/2008/07/23/gm-euro...e-future-saabs/

As much as they've tarted it up in the past two years, the Vectra-based 9-3 just can't dance as well as its competitors.

However, an Astra-platformed 9-3 and a Corsa-platformed 9-1 sounds good to me. If the next-generation 9-3 is a three-door and/or five-door hatchback (like the Astra), with good steering feel and handling and a decent shifter (like the Astra), a relatively small-displacement turbocharged engine, good interior materials (like other recent GM offerings like the Malibu and CTS) with a traditional Saab layout and design, typical great Saab seats, and your choice of FWD or torque-vectoring AWD...it sounds like Saab would make a car that was actually "good" instead of just "cool."

And given how Mini Cooper sales are through the roof, a premium Corsa bearing a Saab badge would be a good thing.

Sounds like Saab will be ahead of the curve on having a full line-up of smaller luxury vehicles, whereas current offerings are kinda niche vehicles (Audi A3, BMW 1-series, Volvo C30, etc.)

Its going to be hard to make the next gen smaller.... its always really hard to "downsize" a vehicle line. But Saab needs to do something, because the 9-3 just isn't competitive. Hopefully this car will at least sport AWD to appeal to enthusiasts, as thats about all they've got as far as a demographic goes.

The torque-vectoring AWD they've developed (XWD with eLSD) has gotten some pretty rave reviews. Right now, like Acura's SH-AWD, it's a good system that just needs to find a good performance car to be matched with.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/07/25/hummer-...e-built-in-n-a/

Marginally related...it looks like the car will be built in the States. With the strong Euro and the weak dollar, this should allow it to significantly undercut competitors from companies like BMW, Bayerische Motoren Werke, BMW, Bavarian Motor Works, and BMW.

EDIT:



What about Volvo? The C30, S40, V50, and second-gen C70 are all the same platform, and all Mazda3/Euro Focus-based. Even the largest of the four models, the V50, is still definitely a compact IMO. They just need to get some smaller, more fuel-efficient engines in North America so that they can have compact fuel economy to go along with their compact size.

And BMW's got a full lineup of the 1-Series, just not here in North America. Three-door hatch, five-door hatch, coupe, convertible, and a half-dozen different engines. The problem with the 1-Series, though, is that it's not significantly lighter, and not any more fuel-efficient, than a similar-engined 3-Series, since it is basically a 3-Series with less rear legroom. And most people looking to downsize would be looking for better fuel economy, I think, not just less rear legroom.

I was referring to US models, because clearly this segment is alive and well across the pond.

Yeah the S40/V50/C70 crossed my mind, but the C70 is not a mainstream bread-and-butter model and the S40/V50 are due for a major refresh.

True, but if we're talking about who is ahead of the curve and who is behind the curve, the fact that Volvo put the S40 family on the market four years ago counts for them, IMO, not against them.

Yeah but it's like they were so far ahead of the curve that they weren't even in the game. Basically, to catch up to this new "smaller is better, give us fuel efficiency please" thing that's going on in the US, Volvo has to wait for their next-gen S40/V50, and by then Saab should have their new 9-3 out.