2005 SAAB 9-5

SAAB introduced a facelifted version for the 9-5 lineup in 2005, and, somehow, it managed to ruin the car's design without improving it or lowering the production costs, as the company's owner, GM, asked.

The American automaker asked the Swedish brand to integrate more GM features into its cars and thus lowering the costs and making it more competitive in the market. But somehow, the reality was lost in translation, and the result was an even more expensive vehicle without offering significant upgrades other than the ones required by the switch to Euro5 standards, which were mandatory in Europe starting from January 2005.

The car's front fascia sported new chromed trims around the headlights, resembling a pair of goggles, which looked like they were added aftermarket by a clueless customer. Only one horizontal slat from the grille was chromed, supporting the carmaker's badge, and the rest were kept unpainted. However, the car's profile still followed the Swedish brand design language. Its sloped rear windscreen and the raised deck were already specific for SAAB.

Inside, Saab took more interior parts from GM's bins. Still, their squared shapes needed to integrate better with the rounded shapes of the dashboard. The car's wide instrument cluster extended over the center stack and continued on the center console. There were no significant upgrades in the back compared to the non-facelifted version.

Under the hood, Saab installed a choice of seven engines, and two of them were fueled with ethanol. But, unfortunately, that bold idea didn't match the market's needs.