The all Japinese made Swedish.... American???

Because General Motors now has complete control over Saab and about a one third control in Subaru it was no surprise a few years ago when the Saab 9-2^X introduced. And because Saab is a General Motors division that “is very important to the General Motors brand” All American has no problem saying that the 9-2 ^X is in fact an American automobile.

Why General Motors thought that the 9-2 ^X would sell is beyond anyone here at All American. Despite the apparent lack of good decision making on General Motors part, it looks like the 9-2 ^X is here to stay. Whenever a 9-2 ^X passes by, I can’t help but think I would like to get behind the wheel of one. Some, my self included, have dubbed the 9-2 ^X the Saabaru and they are right. What can be better than all of the best standard futures in a Subaru with all of the best amenities of a Saab?

What General Motors did was took the Subaru Impreza Sport Wagon plans and gave them to Saab’s design and engineering teams and told them to make it a Saab with out going over budget. What Saab’s design team did was work mostly on the out side of the vehicle. A nip here and a tuck there allowed them to modify the rear body panels just enough to where when you see one on the road, you know it’s a Saab. The team put in the distinctive Saab front clip including the cornering lamps, lower profile hood scoop in the Aero model and if that was not enough, you can even get xenon headlights.

As for the interior, the rest of the design team’s budget was put into making the Impreza Sport Wagon more upscale. Two tone cloth or leather seats and a different center console are the first two things to be changed. The team put remodeled the cup holders so our supper double whammy ultra mega large sodas will stay in place and not spill on full pile weave carpeting. Just about the only thing that was not at least looked at was the ignition key position, which was kept on the steering column and not put on the center console where Saab owners think it should be.

The engineering team put their budget to work with a lot of sound dampening material and trying to smooth out the rattling flat four-cylinder engine. What General Motors got from Saab was a rebadged Subaru Impreza that looked a little different, weighed a lot more, and a car that Saab buyers hated. The number one complaint: move the ignition key. The number two complaint: it’s not Swedish.

I don’t blame General Motors or Saab for producing the 9-2^X at all. If they had been noble and produced an Idealistic entry level Saab, All American would be writing a review on the 9-2 concept and not the actual car. Time was the only thing Saab was thinking of when they asked the General for some help with a cheep luxury car. Time is what they got; the Audi A3 was introduced only last year as an ’06 model, and BMW is still telling Americans to wait for the 2 series. If that’s a bad thing, Saab should be wrong more often.

The only problem is with this car is the price per pound. The plastics are not as upscale as the A3 or the BMW’s and I know I would like to see a wood trim option, but only real wood would do, also some more interior colors besides black and gray two-tone. What Saab is known for is in this editor’s eyes was never luxury, but that’s been slowly changing over the last 15 to 20 years. Now Saab competes in a high scale market and must keep up appearances. If they can convince enough Americans that the 9-2X is not just a rebadged Subaru then they made it, but the real test (the BMW 2 series) is yet to come.