I don't really know anything about cars, but that article was still depressing.

The underpinnings of SAABs, since the original company first foraged into automaking, were comprised of bits and pieces from other makes; my 1990 spg has a triumph-based engine in it, a mitsubishi turbocharger, GM steering rack and Aisin-Warner transmission. What people like Jamie Kitman always miss is that SAAB never built a great deal of its own equipment - however Saab engineers were absolutely cutting-edge and prodigious making use of what they had. Kitman is mostly a blowhard, but what he does nail is that GM is destroying the spirit of SAAB and inexplicably, bringing badge engineering to whole new levels with the new 9-7 and 9-2x.

Fortunately, the 9-2x really does seem like an amazing value, as an extra few hundred bux will get you a vastly nicer version of the WRX (sweet interior, cleaner exterior lines, better dampened handling) but at the end of the day, it is a stopgap car and no one misses it as being Japanese in origins.

Something we heard for awhile from Kelly-Ennis and Mauer, who apparently departed, is that Saab needed stopgap stuff like the 9-2x to fund exciting cars like the 9x, supposedly upcoming 9-3x, and perhaps a new Sonnett. I wonder if any of that really will come to fruition?

You make some good points Erik. Saab has partnered with other companies for components and basic designs from the earliest days. The 96 used a V4 sourced for Ford and the platform that begat the 9000 was co-developed with Fiat and Lancia. However, prior to GM, Saab took these ingredients, added its own engineering magic and came up with highly logical and delightfully original vehicles. How many other cars, regardless of whether the engine block design started life at another company or not, have a powerplant that's mounted longitudinally, backwards and cocked over at a 45° angle as in your 900? Merely having the ignition in the console doesn't a Saab make. But like Kitman, I fear that's what the General has concluded. Come to think of it, do the MBA marketing droids that GM has installed at Saab Cars USA even understand why the 99 sprouted a floor-mounted key in the first place?

Wait, wait, wait.

Erik has an SPG?!?

Guess who rocks? ERIK rocks! ;)

On that note -- excellent points all around, guys. The terrible thing is that I can see myself packing up and leaving the Saab camp within the next couple of model generations... I'm just glad the Saab of yore gave me excellent cars like the 9000CDE notchback and 900 SPG to fall back on. ;)

To look at it from the other side... I think most are skeptical about the 9-7x, especially considering GM is due to revamp that chassis shortly after it's badged as a SAAB.

On the 9-2x though, GM picked a good robust chassis to badge engineer - I guess if you're going to rebadge something you might as well start off with good materials. And from a business standpoint it does make sense to get something to market quickly (hopefully without sacrificing quality, brand identity aside) and get SAAB back on the financial upswing with a minimal outlay of cash. Because let's face it, the brand has been a losing proposition for nearly two decades. I'm grateful to GM for picking up SAAB, else the cars would have gone the way of Peugot, or worse.

Now GM just needs to run damage control, and damn, it looks like it's going to be nasty for awhile from an original product standpoint. Hopefully everyone weathers the storm and SAAB can get back to doing what it did best... set standards in design and safety. We saw Audi turn things around after the 60 Minutes debacle, and Piech turned the tables on VW. Maybe I'm overly optimistic though. ;-)