No Saab Solstice (UPDATED)

Newswheel staff :: 14 November 2005 :: Filed under Front engine sportscar, Roadster, Saab, Europe & UK, US

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But is there still hope for the Swedish car maker?

The possibility of a Saab version of the Kappa compact rear-drive sports car platform, as used on the Pontiac Solstice, is no longer. According to Jay Spenchian, general manager for Saab in the US, the car has been exorcised from the company’s plans. Add in the cancellation of the Subaru Tribeca-based SUV, poor sales of the 9-2X in the US and the geriatric state of the 9-5 saloon and you have to wonder what the future holds for the beleaguered Swedish firm…

GM’s compact Kappa rear-drive platform was developed specifically for the Pontiac Solstice.

You could be forgiven for thinking it’s only a matter of time before the suits at parent company GM (itself currently lurching from crisis to crisis) either close Saab down or flog it off to the highest bidder. After all, GM appears unwilling to invest in Saab; it recently forced the Swedes to give the eight-year-old 9-5 saloon a mild makeover rather than what the model really needed – an all-new platform.

But somehow Saab’s MD, Jan-Ake Jonsson, is putting a brave face on the situation. “I have never, ever seen so much enthusiasm and commitment from GM to make us successful,” he said during a recent visit to a Detroit, USA Saab dealership.

Just what form that commitment takes, however, is tricky to say. The Kappa-based Saabs sports car is no longer a goer, the Subaru Impreza-based 9-2X is going to be very hard to replace with Subaru no longer part of the GM fold (though that may not be a problem given the disastrous sales of the 9-2X) and the upcoming 9-6X seven-seater SUV has likewise been postponed indefinitely thanks to the loss of its donor vehicle, the Subaru B9 Tribeca.

Several spin off models based on the Kappa platform are expected. The first is the Saturn Sky, shown above. A mildly reworked Sky is likely to be sold in Europe under the Opel brand. UK GM subsidiary Vauxhall recently confirmed that the Kappa platform is unsuitable for right hand drive conversion.

In fact, the only product news of interest to come from Saab of late is a plan to widen the availability of the ethanol-fuelled 9-5 Biopower, currently available in Germany and Sweden and soon to be sold in the UK. Overall, we doubt Saab has much of a future as part of the crumbling GM empire. It was recently rumoured that Renault/Nissan has been sniffing around the Swedish outfit with an eye to purchase. If so, the sooner that happens, the better.

The Pontiac Solstice: labelled by Edmunds.com as the most significant vehicle of 2005. It’s an interesting little sportster, but it’s probably not quite worthy of that accolade. And it’s unlikely to prevent GM from going under.

Update:
AutoWeek mag in the US reports that Saab may still be able to offer a two-seat sports car despite the cancellation of Saab’s Kappa derivative.  Svante Kinell, Saab’s European product marketing business manager says that Saab, "will show an interesting concept in Geneva that will have the DNA of our Sonett sports car that we sold in the mid-'60s." The concept is expected to be based on the Opel/Vauxhall Astra front-drive chassis and run Saab’s Holden-sourced turbo V6. Complicated stuff, this GM technology sharing malarky. Still, at least the concept will stay true to Saab’s modern-day chassis dynamics. With a turbo V6 driving the front wheels, it should have truly monumental torque steer.

Linkage :
Inside Line
Detroit News