Does The Saab 9-5 Hold Up in Person?
At auto shows you can’t drive the cars that are on display. All you can do is judge them on aesthetics, interior room and whatever else the manufacturer tells you about its mechanics. At Saab’s stand – in a completely different hall from the rest of GM – the new 9-5 was open to scrutiny, and scrutinize is what I did. If this company is going to survive they need every new product to be a homerun. Right now, it’s as though Saab is in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and a full count. This is an important swing.
We often say cars look better in person than in press photos and the 9-5 is no exception. I liked the proportions before coming to L.A., and now that I’ve stood next to it I like it even more. My only issue with the 9-5 is its interior.
The interior design is fantastic, with lots of intricate swoops on the doors, the trademark honeycomb vents and cool brushed metallic and carbon-fiber-like applications. The shift knob felt great in my hand, and the center-mounted ignition system is much less awkward now that it’s a push-button start instead of a standard key.
Saab needs to match that price and value statement if they want to make a serious play in the U.S. They also need to revamp their marketing with some core values and the fact that they’re different, even quirky. Something along the lines of, “Smart. Stylish. Swedish.” People flock to Ikea for two reasons: it’s cheap and has Swedish-style products. If Saab’s cost of entry is too high, no amount of exterior and interior finesse will sell one off the lot.
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