Now that Saab has finally gotten the new 9-5 into production, Trollhattan is turning its full attention to the next big challenge: a new 9-3 for model year 2013. At least it should look good -- Saab has just employed one of the world's hottest designers.
Spyker/Saab chief Victor Muller recently stated that there will be an all-new Saab 9-3 on the market by 2012. What’s more, Muller said the new 9-3 “will be the first tr
ue Saab developed as a stand-alone [post-GM] company.”
While Muller would say little else on the record regarding the new car, we beli
eve the photo-illustration seen here bears a very good liken
ess to the finished version we’ll see in 2012 as a 2013 model. We’ve also learned the car will actually be called the “93,” as opposed to the current “9-3.” As you can see, the new 93 will borrow the thick roof look of the recently introduced 9-5, but the smaller car will take the styling to a sportier level.
New Saab owner Victor Muller told the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph that he's even contemplating launching the car as a hatchback. This style was successful for Saab in the 99 and 900 era. Muller also said that there would not be a sedan and a hatchback and a wagon, but just two of
those three, and he said he didn't know which. But he must decide soon. A cabrio version goes without saying.
Of course, a two-year-plus window isn't enough time to develop an all-new car. The money isn't available, either. Saab engineers have confirmed to Motor Trend that the platform basis will be the current 9-3.
However, this needn't be a tragedy. It had a bad start as an ill-calibrated machine distantly derived from GM's Epsilon 1 architecture, but in its dying years the current 9-3 is showing some dynamic promise.
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