SAAB, meet Saturn

GM sell-off of Fuji forces 9-6x rethink

SAAB’S 9-7x sport/utility has a new lease on life, but not because it captures the Swedish automaker’s character so well. The Saab 9-6x (the 9-7x’s would-be replacement), based on the Subaru B9 Tribeca and, until now scheduled for early 2007, is dead because General Motors has sold its 20-percent equity stake in Fuji Heavy Industries. GM ended its “strategic alliance” with Subaru’s parent company to “refocus its efforts and resources” with its other Asian partners, Daewoo, Suzuki, and Isuzu. Translation: Building the Saab 9-6x with the Subie’s horizontally opposed six doesn’t fit in with GM’s new global manufacturing rationalization. So the 9-6x is out, at least until GM can find another donor platform for the long-awaited Saab crossover. Saab gave MT hell for describing the 9-6x as “Tribeca-based”—Saab said it was as…

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MotorTrend (Digital) - 1 Issue, January 2006

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