To celebrate Saab’s 60th anniversary in the industry, aficionados all over the world met in Trollhattan, a town in Sweden.
Let’s do a little retrospection…
Sixty years ago, Saab short for Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget AB or Swedish Aircraft Company Limited, was known only as an airplane manufacturer. Four days of festivities culminated in a huge gathering of historic Saabs outside the Saab Car Museum.
The company’s first car, the Saab 92, looked like no other with its streamlined shape and innovative engineering. It’s no surprise; the car was conceived by a pool of aircraft engineers not bound by the traditional auto styling and know-how.
At present, after the manufacture of more than 4 million cars, the automaker has inked a reputation for premium cars sold in over 60 countries worldwide. Evident as it is, much has changed in the automotive realm. But since those post-war years, the innovative mind of Saab’s designers and engineers has the same spirit – but it continues to evolve.
Saab cars reflect its Scandinavian heritage mated to aviation roots. Additionally, it was the automaker that pioneered a bunch of technological advances, cutting-edge safety features, and superb auto ergonomics. And oh- don’t forget to mention the improved engine performance through turbocharging.
Turbocharging is typical of the 'less is more' Scandinavian mind-set and, in an era when the need to save energy and achieve improved efficiency has never been greater, it continues to be a cornerstone of Saab's future development, said Ancaster News.
All the innovative efforts are now flaunted by Saab Canada and other dealerships of the automaker around the globe. As you can see, while most manufacturers have followed Saab's lead in adopting turbocharging, the automaker has again upped the ante with its innovative BioPower technology.
Saab’s new technology unravels the potential of turbocharging to generate more performance, as well as greatly reduced fossil-based CO2 emissions, when using E85 fuel. It is technology that has propelled Saab to the vanguard of Europe's rising market for 'flex-fuel' vehicles.
Saab E85 “flex fuel”, or bioethanol, has been widely available in some areas of North America for several years now. Usually made from crops like corn, bioethanol is an alcohol-based fuel that is mixed with conventional petrol to form a fuel that is up to 85% ethanol and 15% petrol. The advantages of such a mixture is that the emissions from an engine burning this type of fuel are lower than that of a normal gasoline engine – up to 70% lower!
It remains to be seen whether car shoppers will respond positively to the new fuel and support Saab’s environmental initiative. It’s quite hard to change public opinion about what they feed their tank. But I think the price of the flex fuel would dramatically influence their point of view.
Earlier it was said that an all new 9-5 would be launched at the end of 2008, for the 2009 model year. Recent reports, however, said the present 9-5 will be replaced in 2009, for the 2010 model year. The new model is based on GM's Epsilon 2 platform, shared with its sibling - the next-gen 9-3.