Saab sharpens its image with new product blitz - After languishing on the sidelines for years, Saab will add three new models over the next two years. The new product offensive by parent GM is a bid to stoke demand and reverse losses that are undermining GM's overall performance in Europe. In 2002, GM Europe, which also includes Opel, lost $549 million, with Saab accounting for about $500 million in red ink. The latest generation of the Saab 9-3 has been well received, especially in North America. But Saab's global sales have been bumping along at about 120,000 units annually - too low to sustain the brand. The new goal for Saab is to top 200,000 units a year. "To do that," said Bob Lutz, GM vice chairman for product development, "Saab needs GM’s help." That assistance will come from two GM sources. The automaker's North American operation is providing the "GMT360" platform, the underpinning for the Chevrolet Trailblazer and Buick Rainier SUVs, for the 9-7X, a mid-sized Saab SUV, due on sale in early 2005. And GM is leveraging its 20-percent stake in Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd, which owns the Subaru brand, to create the Saab 9-2X, a premium small car designed to appeal to younger buyers that will be the automaker's first all-wheel drive model. The 9-2X will make its public debut at the Los Angeles auto show in January. Production is expected to begin next spring at a Fuji plant in Japan and the vehicle should be on sale in the United States by summer.

(http://www.detnews.com/2003/autosinsider/0309/25/b01-280710.htm, Sept. 25)