Nomad Heading For Sweden

The Chevrolet Nomad is looking for a new home. And the concept could be heading to Sweden to become a Saab, according to GM bosses.

Auto Express Car Reviews

By Craig Cheetham

15th January 2004

The Nomad, which uses the Pontiac Solstice platform, is said to be a very real production possibility. And if it gets the go-ahead Stateside, then a Saab version, based on the 9X concept first seen at the 2001 Frankfurt Motor Show, will follow for Europe.

Although the Nomad is smaller than the 9X, the shape is virtually identical, and it's easy to see how a Saab front end could be grafted on. If so, the four-wheel-drive 300bhp coup΃© could arrive by the end of 2005. But purists are concerned that Saab's originality - already at stake with recent developments such as the Subaru Impreza-based
9-2X - could be further diluted. It's an argument GM chief Bob Lutz was keen to play down. "Saab needs to expand - and fast," he told us. "The appeal of traditional 'Saab weirdism' is limited, and we must get away from that. The firm has always used other people's engines, so parts sharing isn't exactly an alien concept."

Saab bosses will still have control over styling, and sign off the suspension. But GM chairman Rick Wagoner said: "We need to take fast cuts, not short cuts, to get Saab into new markets and double sales to 250,000 a year."

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