Have they gone mad? What is going? Oh my God, I'm sooooo having one!
I have been to my dealer this morning and got the following prices - prepare to have your mouths water, and to finally stamp the lid on those BMW/Audi/Mercedes over-priced Teutonmobiles!

9-3 Linear
Air-con, Alarm, Headlamp Washers, 15" Alloys, TCS/CBC/EBD, 4-speaker CD player, Leather wheel, Cloth Upholstery

1.8t - £18495
2.0t - £19595
2.0TiD - £18495

9-3 Arc
As above plus - Climate control, Wood dash, 16" alloys, Front fogs, Crusie control, Armrest, Mats, Leather seats & door panels.

1.8t - £20295
2.0t - £21395
2.2TiD - £20295

9-3 Vector
As above plus - Matallic trim, Colour-matched exterior, 17" Alloys, Sports steering wheel, Leather/Textile sports seats.

1.8t - £20495
2.0t - £21595
2.2TiD - £20495

9-3 Aero
As above plus - Six-speed manual, Aero body styling kit, rear spoiler, Sports chassis, HiD Xenon headlamps.

2.0T - £22895!!!!!!!

Okay, so I am definitely having an Aero! Plus to add to the fun, the options prices are ridiculously cheap too, here's a selection -

5-speed Auto - £1115
Paddle change for Auto - £75!!!!
Xenon HiD - £425
Sports chassis (for Vector) - £250
ES1-4 to ES3-7 upgrade - £1500!!!
ES1-4 to ES3-13 upgrade - £1750!!!!! http://www.saabscene.com/forum/images/smilies/eek.gif

Oh, and to explain, the ES3 systems (the second number is the total speakers!) are Sat-Nav with integrated phone and BlueTooth... for a measly £1500, or £1750 if you want the full 13 speaker, 300 watt treatment!

Well I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm sure as hell having one! An Aero, with paddle change semi-auto, and Sat-nav! Me is one happy bunny!

I've got the full info pack if anyone wants any furthe or more specific info.

H.

I may not be posting for a while... just digging out my sleeping back and camping stove & will be found on the pavement outside the local dealer!

Presume those are before discount!!

What are they going to be on personal import!!

Best to let them run for six months or so to sort out any production niggles which is anticipated on any totally new car.....

There's going to be a lot of SAABs on the road in the foreseeable future (good or bad?), judging by those prices and the safe 95ish looks of the new 93.

being that an entry level M02 9-3 is £16,350 or something, are those prices that good? Smaller engine size for more money?

Never buy the first model year of a Saab (except the Saab 94 ) as they always have problems that need sorting.

The engines are larger. The current 2.0 engines are 1985cc, the newer ones are 1988cc!

Oh, and just to clear up that issue, the bottom car is BADGED 1.8t, but it is actually a 2.0 - quite why is anyone's guess, but thats off the official info pack. Perhaps it's like BMW with their 316 having a 1.8 and the 318 having a 1.9...

And yes, I do think it's good value - undercuts Audi/BMW/Merc, and yet has more kit etc. If they went as cheap as the current 9-3 they would be percieved as competitors to Rep-mobiles like the Mondeo/Passat, which is not what Saab want, and frankly is not what I want either. The 9-3 is an executive car, not a repwagon.

Sorry, I say it will become a rep wagon - that's where Saab will get the sales - in the fleet market where they can compete with the German marques because fleet buyers will want cost savings.

That is why you get lots of kit for less money then the teutonic titans.

Well, I want to hang onto my current 9-3 for at least another 2 years. And then I'll worry about buying or not buying.
The price and extras are competitive. Let's hope the LOTTO brings home the bacon..

C'mon John, are you honestly saying you compare a 9-3 to a Mondeo or a Vectra? Surely they're competetive to the Audi A4, BMW 3-Series and Merc C-Class?
Please god no, don't let them go downmarket, or as a company director, I shall have to chose one of the Teutonic Trio to still appear successful to clients - I'd get a whole different reception if I turned up in a Mondeo....

SAAB GB actively pursues fleet sales - just look at the web site, so the's no reason to suspect the new model won't be offered to the PLC's at knockdown prices.

There's been a significant presence of newly registered SAABs on UK roads in the last 18 months to two years, through VERY agressive pricing, and I think that growth in registrations will increase with the new 93.

Whether private or company purchased, at the upper end of this sector I think the brand that's really going to feel the threat of the new 93 will be Audi, with the A4, rather than BMW.

C'mon John, are you honestly saying you compare a 9-3 to a Mondeo or a Vectra? *[/b]No, I am saying they are pitching it against the german motors for the fairly successful reps. The Mundano and Vectra are not as prestigious as BMW, Audi etc.

I think Captain Aero is going down the right road.

I think a lot of Saab owners are a sucker for Saab's marketing, and I am not necessarily discounting myself from that.

Am I sensing a some car badge snobbery here? Has anyone actually driven the new Mondeo? The car has had rave reviews in all the car magazines, most of which put it against rivals of the same type in road tests (Laguna, Vectra, Primera etc.) but always manage to remark how close it would come to winning if pitched against the compact executive class.
Autocar recently had an editorial saying how well the new Mondeo was doing in Germany, taking sales from BMW, the Germans being more willing to accept the Mondeo moving upmarket slightly just as they accepted 'New Skoda' first.
I know for sure that the old Mondeo was a lot better to drive than the GM900/9-3!
And surely the new Vectra will be very similar to the SAAB, using as they do the same chassis and SAAB launching in the same year so no time to improve the chassis significantly as they did with the 9-5.
Mind you I'm not gonna buy a Mondeo or new 9-3, I'm sticking to my T16S.

I was not being a badge snob, I was just saying that the new 9-3 is likely to become a fleet car because Saab is pitching it against the BMW/Audi in order to increase sales.

Saab wants to be associated with premium motors, not with the lower-end fleet cars.

I have never denied that the new Mundano is a good car. From what I have read of that and the new Vectra they have bowled over the motoring journalists. I have not driven either.

The new Skodas certainly look excellent. I have driven two Skoda Octavia RS turbos, and they are excellent cars very well put together.

The new Saab 9-3 is likely to become almost as individual as the BMW 3-series (which is the third most common car on the roads - in that market segment)

If Saab can sell bucketloads of them and still manage to maintain the "exclusivity" of the marque, then they have achieved something.

Many people aspire to owning a BMW, though I personally doubt the "exclusive" tag they wear given that every other bugger on the motorway is driving the bavarian beast!

I think SAAB will remain more exclusive. They will gain a lot of new sales due to the fact that it looks like being a very good car but the saloon body will put off as many old buyers as it will attract new ones. Add to that the increase in quality of it's closer rivals Volvo and Audi as well and the move upmarket of the Mondeo, Vectra, Passat etc, to catch the private buyer now no longer given a fleet car due to the company car tax increases, and you get SAAB competing in a very crowded market.
I always thought SAABs perceived image was as an executive car maker anyway (even if there was a dynamic shortfall), so pitching up against BMW with the new car is not a surprise to me, maybe the price increase over the old one is not to reposition it in the market but simply because they know they have a quality product they can charge extra for.

Let's keep things in perspective. This new car will be judged by the non-SAAB reviewers on handling, comfort, acceleration. Just dig out all your GM900 and 9-3 reviews from the loft.
If this car is not as good a ride etc. as a BMW or AUDI, then the man in the street will give it a miss. Looks alone won't sell.
As an example, look at the Viggen. It is a scare to drive. Too many reviewers were just not able to handle its characteristics.

As true SAABers we are judging the new car compared to our own SAAB. But mr. No Saab is using a different measurement.

I will stick my hand up and say that I have driven the new Vectra.

It is superb, light years ahead of the version I have, which is no bad car (the SRi I have s@#ts on the old Mondeo - and I have seen a V-Reg Mundano with corrosion for heaven's sake).

The 1.8ti is about the same price as a 2.2 SRi, looks sway me towards the Saab. 1400 GM points may sway me the other way!

If the handling is up to class standard Saab should be ok providing the car doesn't fall to bits!

I always thought SAABs perceived image was as an executive car maker anyway *[/b]Nope. Saab Auto Aktiebolaget was formed after the second world war since Saab, the aircraft maker, needed to diversify. They considered motorbikes, aluminium boats and kitchens!! Husqvarna was already doing motorbikes. A few aluminium boats are apparently in a watery grave in Lake Vaernen and I'm pleased I do not know anymore about the kitchens!

They decided to produced a small, affordable car that could cope with the Swedish climate. As Sweden's second car maker, they needed a niche and something that separated them from ovloV.

So, Saab produced a "Swedish Peoples Car" - and the basic design evolved from 92 to 93 to 96 and lasted some 30 years! It is only since the 1970s that they have really demonstrated a desire to go upmarket.

My first contact with SAAB was in the 70's anyway when my dad showed me a 99 Turbo that was at the garage he worked at. I would have been about seven or eight so I've only really known the upmarket SAABs. I've also found that people don't really know what a SAAB 96 is; I've had 'Is it a Beetle?' and 'Is it a small Jaguar?!!' when in my dad's one!
Things and company images change so quickly, when the 99 was launched BMW had the '02 models which would be rivals of the Triumph 1600/Dolomite range. Would that be MG ZR/Rover 25 today?

It's a fact of life that Presentation is more important than Content .This is where branding comes in. Car manufacturers see themselves and their products as "brands".

Of course if a car is a complete dog no amount of marketing is going to fool the trade, the press or the public. It's about brand positioning and SAAB is on the threshold of going up the ladder a few notches.

The current 93 (and early 95s) where slated for lack of handling dynamics so the new model 93 has something to prove - and it had better be good.

But it doesn't need to be "better" than a Mondeo or Vectra in this area.

It's about dropping your keys on the bar at the local pub and feeling good about everyone seeing your fob!

This is where manufacturers like Peugeot and Renault have struggled. Their top end products are very fine cars (look at the 406 coupe) yet they are dragged down by Mrs Mop in her 206 (still a brillant car).

It's obvious really - look how AUDI dealers have been separated totally from VW dealers.

SAAB are currently perceived as just below the big German three and they need to do an "AUDI" which 15 or so years ago was just an upmarket Voltswagen.

The new 93 has the looks - if it's a decent drive, doesn't break down and the dealers do their stuff , with some clever marketing, and with GM behind them, SAAB is on to a winner. Here endeth today's reading.

It's about dropping your keys on the bar at the local pub and feeling good about everyone seeing your fob![/b]So it is all about badge fobbery rather than badge snobbery

John - I like your sense of humour! You've got to have a laugh haven't you...

Quite right John, I have no difficulty in dropping my Saab fob on the bar - though it usually works best when the cute lass behind the bar has seen me swing up in my convertible!

By the way, I think you and I are agreeing, just talking corss purposes - you're quite right, Saab HAS to crack the fleet market. What I was getting at is they're coming in at the Executive level of BMW and Audi, not competing with Blandeos and Shacktras.

One further point, some bad news...

The Saab info pack seems to contradict itself - all the models are on the list, and all the prices are there, yet there seems to be some disagreement as towhether the Aero will be available from launch, or not until January 2003......

If so, I'm going to have to wait...

it is not unusual for the interesting stuff like aero / convertible / bi-xenon headlamps and other options to become available sometime after launch of the standard models.

Too true. It's a pain innit?

'H'. Think you should not mind a short wait for the Aero, let Saab practise on the 'ordinary' versions first.

Agreed Rob, it's just it'll be running it a it close to the end of my current finance, so if it's delayed, I shall have to look elsewhere

What jumped out of the press release at me was the quote that the new 93 will have TWICE the bodyshell rigity of the model it replaces.

So that should mean no hampsters on treadmills under the dashboard and no flock of sparrows in the boot?

Whach out Germany, the Swedes are coming!

Yeah, but watch out for that pissed off Great White shark in the ashtray

Well I think it's time to nail the colours to the mast..

I like it.. I think it looks good, classy, sporty, intense and above all, still like a SAAB. (albeit a wee bit like a Volvo S60, Merc C, Lexus IS200 and BMW 3 rolled into one)

If it drives as good as they reckon - even beter!

I've got another 2 years in mine ahead,then one of those.. with all the options!

Mark.
MY2001 Saab 9-3 S Coupe 2.2 TiD.
http://ander124.speed.planet.nl

Already hung my colours. As long as it has no hatch, I, and thousands of other large hatch requirers, will not buy one.

And yes, I think it looks like a repmobile, but I'll gladly change that opinion if it appeals in the flesh.

Although the design appears a bit "safe" I would certainly consider it when my 93 Aero is up for replacement. But SAAB had better have inproved the "solidity" of the bodyshell and improved the driving experience significantly, otherwise I most definately will not buy the car.

It really is going to have to get close to BMW/Lexus standards of driver appeal - anyone who's owned a Peugeot will know that can be achieved with FWD.

Perhaps for me a more appealing SAAB will be the 93X, if they build it.