Saab-aru Sport Wagon: the Saab 9-2X is a significant new product born of an emerging global partnership

Automotive Industries,  July, 2004  by Gary Witzenburg

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When Saab felt a need to expand its product line, it looked to General Motors' global alliance office for help. GM was interested in leveraging relationships among its partners, and Saab's desire to add a premium sport compact appeared to mesh nicely with available additional capacity for Subaru's compact Impreza and turbo-charged WRX component set. GM owns Saab and a 20 percent stake in Subaru parent company FHI (Fuji Heavy Industries).

"We saw this merging segment already occupied by Acura RSX and Volvo $40," says Saab Brand Manager, Future Vehicles, Chip Wilkerson, "plus the coming Audi A3, BMW I Series and Mercedes A-Class. We felt the need to be there quickly. Looking across the GM corporate landscape for where we could fill this gap, FHI was a natural partner."

The proposal was approved by GM's Global Strategy Board, which includes CEO Rick Wagoner, Product Development Chairman Bob Lutz and North American President Gary Cowger as well as top GM Europe and Saab management. "Our role at GM is to help enable Saab to grow its product range," Lutz said. "When Saab requested to work with FHI, we were very supportive as the Saab and Subaru working relationship is a very natural one."

Both companies have backgrounds in aircraft manufacturing and success in European-style rally competition as well as reputations for technical innovation and unconventional automotive thinking. Both also share extensive experience with turbocharged gasoline engines, for which Saab is GM's global center of expertise.

As a result of the deal, Saab broadens its line with a pair of premium all-wheel-drive 5-door 9-2Xs (standard Linear and turbocharged Aero) to appeal to new, younger customers and grow in North America while gaining knowledge and experience with FHI's well-respected awd technology. FHI, currently working to move the Subaru brand upscale, gains global visibility and credibility plus insight into Saab's design and marketing methods while maximizing its architecture and manufacturing capacity utilization.

"We had other alternatives, other platforms we could have looked at," Wilkerson points out. "But this one aligned the best for the type of vehicle we wanted to put into the marketplace. The fact that it was all-wheel drive was a huge plus because we hadn't had an all-wheel drive vehicle and were getting hammered in the U.S. for not having one."

Wilkerson was part of the vehicle team that traveled to Japan roughly once a month for a week or more at a time to work with their FHI counterparts. Led by Vehicle Executive Director Kjell-Ake Eriksson, its primary responsibilities were the areas that would successfully "Saabify" the 9-2X to give it strong Saab character and separate it from its Subaru siblings: exterior and interior design, chassis development (ride/handling) and quality.

Other members included Platform Manager Peter Dorrich, Chassis Integration Engineer Per Jansson, Advanced Design Chief Anthony Lo, Lead Designer Ola Granlund and Chief of Quality Bengt Persson. "Peter, Per, Bengt and Ola spent several months living over there," Wilkerson adds. "In fact, when we did the [March, 2004] contract sign off--reviewed the vehicle and said, okay, it's ready to go into production--Peter did his presentation in Japanese. So we really got to know the people over there. It's a good bunch."

Given the existing platform and structure, Jansson's responsibility was to make it ride and handle like a Saab, while Granlund's was to make it look like one. "He was working with their designers to make sure it had a good strong Saab face and both interior and exterior came across as a Saab," Wilkerson explains. "Peter was working with FHI engineers to make sure that our requirements were built into it. Bengt was making sure that the quality targets were met. I was working with the specification, the pricing and the business case, finding out how we could make this thing fly, while Kjell-Ake was overseeing the project."

Were Saab's quality standards different from FHI's? "No, but there are a lot of new components, so we needed to ensure that it met our level of quality. We put in more sound insulation, for example, and did some things to make sure it felt and sounded like a Saab."

Wilkerson adds that the relationship has been outstanding. "Given the language and cultural barriers," he says, "I was expecting it to be more difficult. But there was a very strong understanding between our engineers and theirs in the way they approach vehicle development and what the end goal was. I think it's gone very well. Just the fact that we've been able to get this vehicle out as quickly as we have [two years] has been great."

The base Linear model's 2.5L flat four ("boxer") engine delivers 165 hp through its standard 5-speed manual transaxle. Besides full-time awd, its standard features include keyless entry and security, air conditioning, power windows/locks, cruise, dual power mirrors, AM/FM/CD, active front head restraints, cargo area lighting and cover, rear wiper and roof spoiler, 16" alloy wheels and no-charge scheduled maintenance.