Saab's new baby

How to act like the chinese

1. Get a Mini
2. Apply tracing paper
3. Make small changes to exterior
4. Graft a 9-5 front end on a miniature exterior

Pathetic!

By lucasworld on 8 March, 2010, 9:21pm

SAAB used to be original in their designs, before GM.

"...our image shows how it COULD look... "

Everyone talks about the Mini like it's some world-beating, 'change the course of history' in car design. I totally do not see what is so amazing about the Mini.
To me it looks like an expensive toy, with prospective buyers duped into thinking they are being original by spending thousands on extras to personalise a simple city car.
Inside looks like a candy store now, what's it going to look like in 5 or 10 years time?

Zee Germans at BMW took a simple design, dumbed it down by a factor of 100000, 'chunkified' the resulting design to make it look like a toy so that car design finesse was no longer required.

Pininfarina or Bertone, even on drugs & alcohol, sleep-deprived, dehydrated, starving and thrashed to within in an inch of their lives couldn't even come close to designing such a poor excuse of child's car?

Bentley have allowed this dufus designer syndrome to start affecting their design, with their Mulsanne.

What's happened to well-judged classy design? Is all it takes now is quirkiness and that's it, you've got a design to sell?!

Obviously you've got your expensive supercar producers, but on a mainstream level, apart from Alfa (ok forget the Mito, that's been designed by a marketing comittee because they need a sales success to help balance their books), which other brand spends time on their designs to want to make them look attractive?
Isn't it time goofy product design in general is resigned to make way for something else?

By TomTom on 9 March, 2010, 12:10am

I'd consider a miniature SAAB

Providing any GM DNA had been completely expunged from it. I "get" the concept of a premium small car, such as the MINI. Yes, it is an expensive toy, but it's less expensive to buy and run than more traditional expensive toys and the personalisation options mean that you can add some big-car features if you wish.
On our ever-more congested road network, with fuel prices reaching stratospheric levels and most journeys being solo affairs, smaller cars make sense, but that's no reason to slum it.
Having said all that, I sincerely hope that your artist's impression is way off beam, as the image above looks like the bastard offspring of an Alfa MiTo, a MINI, a Skoda Fabia, a SAAB 9-5 and a robber's dog.

By snappyuk on 9 March, 2010, 8:56am

Saab need be more Saab and less mainstream

Saab should stick with the 93 and 95 and continue to improve the breed. After all, why buy a Saab that looks like a mini. They have a lot of catching up to do. Perhaps more 4 wheel drive variations migjht do the trick. Recent winters have shown the necessity for such vehicles.

By jom_ie on 9 March, 2010, 8:57am

SAAB and design in general.

At last, someone I can really agree with! Well said Tomtom - I so agree with you about the crapness of the Mini design. As I believe I have written here before - it is the CONCEPT that needs revisiting, not the sheetmetal. A new Mini needs to hit the same criteria as the original (small, cheap, clever, groundbreaking) - not just look a bit like the original, only without any of its cleverness.
The same goes for SAAB. They don't have to look like the old ones, just be as clever, as original and offer real benefits over an 'ordinary' car.
I despair of car design these days. Audi and BMW threw taste out of the window, Peugeot seem to be on some kind of hallucogenic. Quirky or dramatic seem to be the order of the day - what I would call gimmicky! The absolute zenith of this is the 'hidden' door handle. What is clever about a car that obviously has 4 doors, but only seems to have 2 handles?
I still hang on to the old belief, that if you need areas of black paint, or lumps of chrome, to make your design work - then it is a crap design! Citroen GS, DS, CX, NSU Ro80, Audi 100, Pre-Bangle BMW - these cars didn't need gimmicks to simply look 'right' from every angle.

By pajbse on 9 March, 2010, 9:24am

this car has been designed over a mini.

By koupekid on 9 March, 2010, 9:52am

i don't know ...

looks too much like Mini ... I'd rather it have the front of the 9-3, which I think is amazing ... one of the most beautiful 4 door sedans, in my opinion :)

By oliviku on 9 March, 2010, 9:55am

i don't know ...

looks too much like Mini ... I'd rather it have the front of the 9-3, which I think is amazing ... one of the most beautiful 4 door sedans, in my opinion :)

By oliviku on 9 March, 2010, 11:06am

Premium small cars

@snappyuk, I too "get" the concept of a premium small car, with certain personalisation options being valid.
However stripes running across the car or multi-coloured this that or the other, isn't that just accepting and legitimising MaxPowerism on to the mass market.

If not, let's all paint Southern Crosses on our bonnets, get some shotguns and start chewin' tobacco, spittin' out the window whilst listening to Country & Western fm.
(Spittin' out the window I'm sure won't be a problem for most of the UK's youth as they've had loads of practise spitting on the pavements right in front of where people are walking.)

Don't you think this personalisation exploit by the manufacturers has gone too far and that it is in everyone's interest to get some creative spirit going again? Paint and finish options isn't a way of keeping designing fresh.

Do they need to personalise a car to show that they are original and fresh-thinking, the very second someone walks into a MINI showroom considering buying one of those little tin boxes tells me zey haf zero original thinkings in zeir head.

Just my opinion.

I think the Italians and the French need to get their skates on and start producing some quality engineered funky-mobils-on-wheels to get some creative juices flowing again.

By TomTom on 9 March, 2010, 11:32am

Stop calling 'Autobild' pctures your own Autocar

You do realise that this above picture has been slapped together by some hack in the german motoring magazine 'Autobild'
This would never be something that SAAB would design and for Autocar to saying the Autobild's picture is what it could look like is a digrace. As 'pajbse' commented above the this '92' concept as muller calls it won't be another retro styled fake. The 92 isn't iconic enough for it to succeed. However; the essence of what the 92 was is what SAAB will hone in on.
Aerodynamic, Safe, Economical, Agile, Practical and innovative in application and design.

By W00DZ on 9 March, 2010, 11:57am

Totally agree with Wooz this obviously won't be what the new baby Saab will look like. You can see that most of the other manufacturers such as Audi and Alfa Romeo have by-passed originality and stuck elements of the Mini into their cars to try and gerner customers.

This render is just to illustrate the fact that its intended to rival the Mini not be a rip off of the design Chinese style lol. That original 9-2 looks quite small and it was the original Saab if I'm correct so I think its the way forward for them. Plus I've read somewhere else that like the original 9-2 this new one will be tear drop shaped.

By JordanB2710 on 9 March, 2010, 3:35pm

Uafasach!

This is woeful.

Are we the quite well educated in the world of motoring, true car enthusiasts and (former in my case) buyers of this magazine supposed to believe that this is anything approaching accurate?

Has the creator of this abomination ever actually seen an example of Scandanavian design? Ever heard of minimalism? Purity of form and respect for function? Individuality?

SAAB would never manufacture something like this. Witnesss the 9-X and 9-X Air concepts. Purity of line, gorgeously unadorned flowing surfaces and beautiful detail.

I say again. This is WOEFUL.

By pdmccmdp on 9 March, 2010, 7:41pm

NOT Victor Muller's Design!!!

Why is Auto Express allowing this misrepresentation of Victor Muller's design for a new Saab 92 to continue. Afraid Mini may have some real competition and look good as well? Let's play fair here!

By iglenday2 on 10 March, 2010, 1:06am

NOT Victor Muller's Design!!!

Why is Auto Express allowing this misrepresentation of Victor Muller's design for a new Saab 92 to continue. Afraid Mini may have some real competition and look good as well? Let's play fair here!

By iglenday2 on 10 March, 2010, 2:06am

.."shows how it could look".....

.....shows how it could look, or this is a completely random computer generated knock-up using some bits from a Mini (eg headlamp surrounds)?
This is a waste of page space and something that I'd expect Autocar to do (which is why I never buy their mag).
Pictures should be photographs of something real, if not, just report the facts.
PS - any news on the next generation Mini yet (not that awful Countryman cross-over thing)?

By gavsmit on 10 March, 2010, 6:08pm

Interesting...

I agree with Snappyuk, provided there isn't a single trace of GM in this car I'll definately consider one.. Provided they do it with a 2.0 engine and manual box ;)

By Dave_French on 14 March, 2010, 3:57pm

" ...OUR image... "

"..... And our image shows how it could look. ....."
Yes, it COULD look like that, or it could look like a preshrunk Audi, or a DS3 with a snowplough welded on the front... "Could look like that" is just making it up. You could win the Booker Prize for this work of fiction.
Or you could put it in the Daily Mail...
C'mon, smarten up, we expect more.
2/10 try harder.

By stevie on 16 March, 2010, 9:05am

Photoshop Mini

Come one guys, if you are going to deface a recognisable car make a better attempt. This only misleads the audience and you are thinking your readers are fools.

By f1moh on 24 March, 2010, 10:05am

It looks too much like the mini. I doubt it would sell. And' It would be expensive being a Saab. People will probably still go for the mini. Hope Saab don't waste time on this!.

By bigbazza on 1 April, 2010, 12:48pm