Saab to Produce Vehicles in Germany Next Year

Besides the barrage of ethanol-powered concept vehicles that Saab has displayedat just about every major auto show this year, things have been rather quiet for the GM-owned brand. While Swedish counterpart Volvo has been launching and updating models left right and center, Saab hasn’t shown any new significant vehicles since the Aero-X Concept. One potential reason for this is that the company is potentially moving production of its next model away from Sweden. Just-Auto reports that starting next year, Saab will begin producing vehicles at Opel’s facilities in Russelsheim, Germany.

As you can imagine, loyal Saab fans are none too pleased at the idea of their cars being produced in Germany, especially after the 9-2x and 9-7x debacle. Top bosses decided a few years back that Saab needed to expand its product range in the United States with an affordable performance compact and a large sport utility vehicle. The former was a version of the Subaru Impreza, built in Japan, while the latter was and continues to be based on GM’s GMT-360 sport utility platform (i.e. TrailBlazer, Envoy, etc.), which is built in theUnited States. However, in the above case the two vehicles were not Saab-engineered products, but rather were existing cars from other car companies with Saab exterior and interior styling.

The car suspected to be built in Germany would be the next-generation 9-5, which will ride on General Motors’ Epsilon II platform. Saab’s engineers will still play a strong role in engineering and designing it, much as they did with the current 9-3 that uses Epsilon I architecture components. Saab has been in need of a new-generation 9-5 for quite some time, which despite multiple facelifts has lost its competitive edge against its rivals.

The question that remains to be answered for Saab fans is, will the resulting Saab be any less of a Saab if it isn’t built in Sweden? Carenthusiasts don’t consider the Boxster and Cayman any less Porsches even though they’re built in Finland by a subcontracted company, nor does anyone seem to mind the fact that both BMW and Mercedes-Benz have plants in the southern United States, not even the Germans. Even Volvo doesn’t build all of its cars in Germany – many are produced in Ghent, Belgium.

Saab enthusiasts must come to grips with the important issue of brand sustainability, which can only be answered by shifting production locations. Keeping in mind that Saab is an important part of General Motors, the Swedish brand is not exempt from the auto-making giant’s plans to integrate production globally. For instance, Saturn’s Astra will be built alongside European-market Opel Astras, while Europe’s Opel Roadster is built in Delaware alongside the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky. These cost-cutting measures allow General Motors to invest its money in new vehicles and new technologies to create better products, and will give Saab a stronger chance to not only survive in the future, but be profitable.