Made in China Saab 9-5?
If the GM-SAAB-Koenigsegg-BAIC deal ever closes, Beijing Auto (BAIC) would be interested in taking the current generation Saab 9-5 and produce it in China once the 2010 Saab 9-5 is launched in Europe in April next year, Chinese media reports via Gasgoo.
Last September, BAIC had agreed to take a minority interest in the Koenigsegg-owned Saab. However, it is one in the many open and not closed China deals.
If the current Saab 9-5 moves to China, in could be produced wearing BAIC’s own Beijing brand, or it could be the start of a major expansion of Saab China, Chinacartimes reported.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Oh and the DI Casette, it was replaced once under the recall for free at 90,000ish miles. The old one didn't fail me, nor has the replacement. Not nearly the problem the coils were on the 1.8T VW/Audi engine. I had multiple coil failures on the A4 I had even after they were replaced.
Yeah, the DI cassettes got/get to be tiresome, but the individual COPs on the 03+ 93ss/c have been flawless. Any new car would probably get that. Or one with NO ignition system....
BuzzDog: still funny, even out of your head, actually... Ah, the DI cassette. The electronics. I loved my 99 9-5 wagon, but once it started with the mysterious "lose all power in the middle lane on the highway for no repeatable nor diagnoseable by even the best indy saab mechanic in town" syndrome with the wife and baby in it, it went away awfully fast. And that's where I learned my lesson about Saab trade-in values :)
The DI casette problems with the 9-5 may be caused by non-specific sparkplugs, they are quite fussy that way. My friend bought his Dad a 2001 9-5 with 130,00 on the clock and it has had no issues at all over the last two years. Get them looked after properly (which can be expensive) and they are great cars. Ugly looking and cumbersome, but a great car nonetheless.