SAAB 9-3 Phoenix 2007
Work on a third generation Saab 9-3 started in 2007, when designers in General Motors facilities in Rüsselsheim and Detroit began work on a design study.
The design language was supervised by Simon Padian, and the design team managed to produce a clay model and several computer models before General Motors announced it had put the Saab brand "under review" in December 2008.
After 2009, during which an intended sale of Saab to Swedish supercar manufacturer Koenigsegg ultimately failed, General Motors reached an agreement with Dutch manufacturer Spyker in January 2010. The sale of Saab to Spyker was completed in late February 2010 and work on a replacement for the 9-3 was restarted virtually immediately. The new management of Saab, headed by CEO Victor Muller, felt, however, that a new design language was needed to distance a newly independent Saab from General Motors.
Muller hired Jason Castriota in June 2010 to work on a scalable car platform that would serve as the basis for future Saabs, beginning with the replacement for the 9-3. In October 2010 a number of prototypes were produced and evaluated against the prototypes made in 2007. Eventually, Castriota's prototype was chosen and the design team was instructed to develop a five-door combi coupé, a convertible and a crossover on the new platform.
The work on the new platform culminated in the unveiling of the Saab PhoeniX concept car at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2011. By that time, Saab had run into serious cash flow problems, but work on the PhoeniX platform and the 9-3 replacement continued, even when Saab went into voluntary reconstruction in September 2011. The replacement of the 9-3, which had been renamed 900 by that time, was to have 1.6 liter turbo engine supplied by BMW, which was also to supply the car's start-stop system. The car was to have a hybrid drivetrain and was to be released in both a premium Aero and an economy Vector variant.
When Saab finally filed for bankruptcy in December 2011, Castriota and his team had finished most work on the car's body and its engineering, with the interior remaining the last hurdle before completing the car, which was planned for Fall 2012. The main assets of the bankrupt company were acquired by National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), which may revisit the PhoeniX platform. NEVS was focusing its efforts on producing an electric variant of the second generation 9-3.
Awards
2010
- Saab 9-3 received an award as the most reliable vehicle in the middle class. With 50,000 km, 93.1% of Saab’s showed no defect requiring the service and for the 100,000 km, this percentage is still respectable and is 84.2%.
2006
- Wards 10 Best Engines 2.8L V-6 Turbo