Saab to Show New 9-3 in Frankfurt

As the eyes of the world are watching the so-far-hopeless struggles of Swedish manufacturer Saab, burdened by debt to its suppliers, the auto maker has not given up its plans to become one of the most important players on the market. According to the latest rumors, this September, Saab will present the new generation of the 9-3 model at the Frankfurt Auto Show.

Slotted to become the second model that will take part in the Saab revival offensive, the new 9-3 will borrow the platform in use for the current model, but modified to meet the requirements of a new model. This platform has been chosen instead of the one rumored until now to underpin the new 9-3, GM's Delta platform.

According to Autoblog.fr, Saab will use the Epsilon I because, as Spyker CEO Victor Muller said, it is a platform entirely owned by Saab and one which will be proprietary only to the Swedish brand. As for the rest of the details surrounding the model, no mention was made by the executive.

Meanwhile, Saab is fighting to reach an agreement with the unpaid suppliers that have stopped the shipment of parts to the Trollhattan plant, making it unable to produce cars.

As a last ditch effort to generate some cash, Saab announced earlier this week it is negotiating with a financial institution controlled by Russian investor Vladimir Antonov to sell its real estate properties, and then lease them back in order to continue operations. So far, the negotiations seem to have yielded no result.