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.
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