The Saab Pages

Saab developing driver alert device

Volvo is currently testing a device called Driver Alert that aims to counter the problem of driver fatigue, reports Channel 4 website in the UK.

Sleepiness at the wheel is thought to account for at least 10% of all road accidents and 20% of accidents on motorways, claiming more lives than drink-driving.

The same website reported back in January 2005 of a similar system being developed by Saab:

Saab has released details of its new safety system which detects if a driver is nodding off at the wheel. A number of manufacturers have been working on such systems, but Saab could be one of the earliest to put theirs into production.

It incorporates two miniature cameras with infra-red lenses which monitor the driver's eye and head movements; if they stray from the 'straight-ahead' position for more than two seconds, a buzzer sounds, and if they continue to fail to respond, a brake pulse will be delivered through the ESP system.

The system can apparently determine also whether the driver is looking in the rear-view mirror or round a corner, so will not sound a warning, and it can also distinguish between city driving and faster highways.

The software could also be used to determine automatic optimum settings for driver's seat position, steering wheel and mirrors, or to decide the best speed for airbag deployment in the event of an impact.

Saab's ergonomics chief Arne Nabo said this week: "The system is functioning extremely well in our testing. And there is no problem with the hardware, which is reliable and relatively inexpensive. We are now concentrating on fine-tuning the timing and nature of the final warning alarm."

Volvo's system is a little different from those being tested by other manufacturers, such as Saab's, which monitors drivers' eye and head movements. It uses a camera mounted between the windscreen and rear-view mirrors that monitors the distance between the car and the road markings, detecting if, for example, the car is drifting out of lane or moving in an uncontrolled way; it then sounds an alarm and displays a message on the control panel.

Porsche to buy Saab. Maybe.

Edmunds Inside Line reported, a couple of days ago, that Porsche is gearing up to possibly buy another automaker.

Having already taken a 20% voting interest in Volkswagen, earlier in the year, Porsche is to ask its shareholders to amend its corporate rules to allow foreign acquistions.

There's an interesting idea, maybe nothing more than a rumour and wild speculation or wishful thinking at the best from John Neff on Autoblog, today.  The suggestion is "...it’s fun to speculate who could end up in the company’s shopping cart. Will it go slumming for an economy brand or try to add a venerable luxury marque to its portfolio? What’s our best guess? Off the top of our heads, Saab. What’s yours?"

It's certainly an interesting thought and one that is likely to appeal to downtrodden Saab enthusiasts who have spent the last ten years watching the large American pensions and healthcare company continually snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in their decision-making that has run Saab into the ground.

What is appealing about the suggested Porsche link to Saab is the potential of reuiniting the Swedish automaker with uber-designer Michael Mauer, formerly of Saab before moving to the German souped-up Beetle maker.  It will be interesting to see Saab built with passion once more.

Mauer is widely regarded by me as being Saab's greatest designer since Sixten Sason. 

9-7X coming to Europe afterall?

Ever since the Chevy Trailblazer / GMC Envoy based Saab 9-7X SUV was announced, GM has repeatedly stated that it is only for the American market.

Today BusinessWire reports that badge-engineered Saab will be in Bologna, Italy, for this year's Bologna Motor Show, taking place from 3rd to 11th December.

BusinessWire regurgitates the hype: "The four-wheel drive five-seater is the first SUV model (sports utility vehicle) from the Swedish premium brand. It is built in the US state of Ohio. Many of the Saab 9-7X's design details, for example its distinctive radiator grille with three air inlets and the transparent tail lamps, reflect the current Saab design language. Another feature typical of the brand is the ignition key positioned behind the gear lever in the center console."

Now that we have established that it is a 'proper Saab' because they did not put the ignition key on the steering column, BusinessWire goes on to report: "A powerful V8 engine with a displacement of 5.3 liters and 300 hp output ensures a superior ride in any situation."

The interesting bit is coming up now, "According to current plans, within Europe, the Saab 9-7X will be distributed in Switzerland and Italy via importers, and will be sold through selected Saab dealers."

Well, that's a turn-up for the trousers.  I wonder how well the 5.3-litre V8, mustering a measly 300bhp, will go down with diesel-loving Europeans?  Time will tell.

Saab product offensive. Or is that offensive product?

Saab's marketing department looks to be on the offensive with a new product launch where, in fact, the new product to be launched is, itself, offensive.

You've got to thank your guardian angel that it is not your job to flog this dinosaur of a motor.  First launched in August 1997, the Saab 9-5 was tarted up in August 2002 with new front and rear lamps and new bumpers.  A further revision to bumpers in August 2004 seemed like a desperate attempt to keep the design from going stale.

Since the departure of uber-design god Michael Mauer to Porsche (easy job that one, all their motors look the same), GM has moved Saab design to a new European design centre in Russelsheim, Germany, where they will cook up their very own take on Swedish design.  If the model year 2006 Saab 9-5 is anything to go by then you should be afraid.  Be very afraid.

The Saab 9-5 may be in it's senior years, but it does not seem willing to just fade away.  Instead, in a demonstration of clear lack of taste, GM's design team has deigned to adorn the 9-5 with bling.  Gone is the stealth aspect of a smart but unassuming looking car and in comes the brash styling of thick chrome headlamp surrounds and staggered tail-lamps.

What was once Einar Hariede's beautifully scuplted - as if hewn directly from blocks of Swedish granite - BMW 5-series competing Saab Saloon is now a dog's dinner.  A visully awkward and incoherent design mess.

Take three designers, put them in separate rooms and ask them to design front middle and arse-end and this is what you'll end up with.  They really should have commissioned those monkeys once they were done churning out the complete works of Shakespeare.  I'm sure they'd have come up with a more coherent looking car.

So, when you're up against something as ugly as the new Saab 9-5 you really do have your work cut out.  So what to do?  Well, why not call the car a 'beast' and set about some tortuously incomprehensible marketing 'strategy'?  OK, that's what they have done.

Following a link from an advert on Top Gear you are taken to The new breed 9-5, Unleashed 01.12.05 microsite from Saab.  It's yet another triumph of design over function, style over substance, ego over sensibility.  There's a bit of Flash stuff in that I don't mean it is good, I mean that it is made with Macromedia Flash.  You can then click through to a choice of three options: Explore, Register and Forward.

Explore allows you to peek into three corners of a crate to see the tail-lamp, the headlamp and the front wheel/foglamp.  That's all I can get it to do.

Register allows you to sign up to, presumably, allow you to receive your spam through the hole in your front door. 

Forward allows you to send details of the site to a friend, altthough why you might want to confuse any other poor bugger is beyond comprehension.

Supposing you do register ...yes, I'm a sucker... once your details have been submitted you are shown a screen with a keypad that is beckoning you to enter a code.  WTF?  I can tell you that it is not 9506 - guessed from the eminently logical numbers from 'Saab 9-5 model year 2006'.

What is the code?  What is beyond the keypad?  Why the secret squirrel stuff from the GM propaganda machine.  Make it difficult for people to understand and/or find the information then I suspect that you are likely to lose a lot of your audience at the first hurdle.  It has certainly lost me.

Mind you, given that the 2006 model year 9-5 is such a shocking site there is good reason to keep it under wraps behind electronically controlled keypad security.

Our roads will be a much safer place if the new Saab 9-5 is not on them scaring other road users. 

Saab.  Word of advice.  It's horrible.  Keep it locked up.

Saab helps Holden with engine growth

The four-millionth export engine, a 2.8-litre turbocharged V6 from Holden in Australia, is to be shipped to Sweden for a Saab 9-3 Aero.

Saab, as part of the global portfolio of GM brands, is increasinlgly using technology from other parts of the large American pensions and healthcare company's business.

Production of the 'Global V6' began just two years ago and, together with Holden's 'Family II' four-cylinder, has been making inroads into Holden's export volume.

GM Holden chairman and managing director Denny Mooney said engine manufacturing for export and domestic markets was an important part of Holden’s operations and complemented the company’s vehicle exports.

"The fact that we have built four million engines for other markets around the world highlights how serious GM is about manufacturing in Australia. This is a significant contribution to our global operations and has involved many collaborations worldwide," he said.

That's nice, then.

Saab and Alfa Romeo are two of a number of customers for Holden's V6 engine.

Saab 9-6X canned

General Motors, in early October 2005, said it has cancelled a planned Saab crossover vehicle, which it had been jointly developing with Japanese affiliate Subaru, and is dissolving its partnership with Subaru's parent, Fuji Heavy Industries.

GM has sold its 20-percent stake in Fuji, which it acquired in late 1999. Toyota will buy about 45 percent of the shares, which will make the company the largest shareholder in Fuji.

The crossover vehicle, known internally as the 9-6X, was to have shared a common platform with the Subaru B-9 Tribeca and was to have been introduced in 2006.

The Subaru B9 Tribeca was designed by Andreas Zapatinas, Head of Advanced Design. He has also worked for Fiat and Alfa Romeo, ...and doesn't it show?  The arse-end of the B9 has Alfa written all over it.

More appealing to Saab enthusiasts, surely, is the interpretation of what the 9-6X might have looked like.  Taking design cues from the 9-X and 9-3X concepts designed by former chief-designer at Saab, Michael Mauer, the image published in Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet is more in keeping with the current design direction.