According to Mats Fagerhag, Saab's executive director of vehicle systems, the investments made by GM over the years means that Saab now has the facilities and technologies to build its future vehicles.
"We are going to get a kick start from GM, we have architectures and lifetime licenses to use vehicle architectures. GM has been investing in Saab and Trollhattan for the last years. We have never had better equipment and tools and engineers than we have today," Fagerhag was quoted as saying by the source.
Even if the Swedish brand has not launched a new vehicle since 2002, the engineers over at Trollhattan have been working. On what? According to the official, on getting acquainted with GM's mid-sized architecture, which is used on the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia, as well as with the compact platform that will be used on the new Opel Astra.
The same engineers "have skills in all-wheel drive, chassis systems and the front structures" found in other GM vehicles as well. "The skills and abilities they have got for Saab in the future are very good," Fagerhag said.
You might wonder "ok, so why didn't you build anything by now?" Well, they did. Remember the new Saab 9-5. Saab says much of that "knowledge" and "skills" will be found on this model. And Saab won't stop here...
"We definitely have the capacity to do other vehicles," Fagerhag. He also hopes that by operating outside GM, Saab will be able to avoid lengthy procedures, technical reviews and changes.
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