http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Ne ... eId=105739
Next Saab 9-5 Model to Be Built in Germany, Completing Phase-Out of Swedish Production
Date Posted 05-24-2005
FRANKFURT, Germany — In a continuing trend to build Saabs anywhere but Sweden, the next generation of the Swedish brand's 9-5 model from 2008 will be built at the GM plant in Ruesselsheim, Germany, an Opel executive told Reuters on Monday.
The source said current versions of the Saab 9-3 and 9-5 will continue to be built in Trollhättan, Sweden until then.
In March, the Ruesselsheim plant won the coveted job of making the next generation of GM's midsize cars in Europe, including the successors to the Opel Vectra and Saab 9-3.
The new Saab 9-7X, the brand's first SUV, will be built in Moraine, Ohio. The Saab 9-2X wagon is built in Japan, and the Saab 9-6X crossover, a knockoff of the Subaru B9 Tribeca due out in 2006, is expected to be built in Indiana.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Monday that Saab chairman Carl-Peter Forster, who is also president of GM Europe, said the Trollhättan plant might build a high-end Opel car GM has on the drawing board in Germany.
What this means to you: You probably had a hunch after GM took over, but it's now looking like the future of Saab will almost certainly have nothing to do with Sweden. However, new models are coming out that could at least offer Saab a future, and consumers some great choices.
