Cars we should not get: Saab 9-4x

If you ask a sheep where the grass is the greenest, it will point us to the other side of the fence. There are the best herbs and the most beautiful grasses! Sheep are well-versed experts on these issues, so probably the sheep will. It's the same with automotive dreams. Things that are out of reach are especially desirable.

Saab 9-4x in Dresden
Saab 9-4x in Dresden

Sometimes rightly. Saab has the 9-4x, an SUV that was produced in small numbers for the US and is unlikely to experience its European debut. The 9-4x was for many a surprise on the German dealer tour. Also for me, because the 9-4x impresses with many lovingly designed details that you do not see at first glance.

The Saab hockey stick, one of the most important design features of the Swedes, is always cited in the body. For example in the spoiler of the tailgate. The headlights, in Nordic ice blue, are even more striking and a bit cooler than in the Saab 9-5. Of course, the side indicators are also beautifully "iced".

Saab 9-4x Hockey Stick - Quotation in the tailgate
Saab 9-4x Hockey Stick - Quotation in the tailgate

Inside, the love of detail continues. The door sills are illuminated in the dark, and the concept of ambient lighting has been adopted and refined by the new Saab 9-5. The Saab 9-4x was created in the GM era and as a Saab driver you will be somewhat baffled at this thought.

Let's remember the Saab 9-5 of the first series, where each year a small feature disappeared to save money. At the end of the GM era then such a model with such great details? The 9-4x is less a GM product. He is first and foremost a Carl-Peter Forster car, then a Saab and then GM. Saab owes its persistence to the new 9-5, the 9-4x and Opel owes him a lot.

Saab 9-4x - look me in the blue eyes, little one!
Saab 9-4x - look me in the blue eyes, little one!

The Forster products have led Saab into a bright future. Even the fact that Opel is still there, you owe the Forster cars. Now that the pipeline is empty, it's getting dark and uncomfortable for the Opelans.

The 9-4x not only looks good, it drives the same way. Our test cars were US press cars, some of the very first 9-4x, which rolled off the line in Mexico. The 6-gear automatic harmonizes perfectly with the charged 6 cylinder, the four-wheel drive is superb. Whether on the motorway, cobblestones or unpaved terrain, we were always well on the way.

Saab 9-4x, who says the side indicator should not be nice?
Saab 9-4x, who says side indicators are not allowed to be beautiful?

The active Drive Sense suspension was not unaffected. The Europe version would have been a little finer tuned, would have had a different suspension and better brakes. In addition a consumption-optimized engine for the model year 2012. But we felt in the US version always in good hands. Add to that, for the heart and the automotive senses, a good, robust sound, which was always pleasant, never annoying.

The car is built in Mexico. The combination of GM and Mexico does not arouse any great expectation in me. Totally wrong ! The Saab 9-4 feels very European, very much to Saab and a little bit after German premium brands. Which is to be understood positively. No little bit of American swing, as we know it from Chevy and Co.

Just a dream ? Saab 9-4x in Frankfurt
Just a dream ? Saab 9-4x in Frankfurt!

Which shows that Saabs could have been built anywhere in the world. Even in Mexico, if only the DNA is right and the attention to detail is there. For Europe, there would have been a higher quality interior for the 9-4x. Better seats, different leather. That would not really be necessary. The seats were very comfortable, the dashboard covered with leather and contrasting stitching. Premium? In any case, close.

The Saab 9-4x is too good not to build. The Saab 9-5 sportswear, too. The fact that we should not get both cars makes us sad. The blame is not in Detroit and not at GM. That would be too easy, we should think about that. First and foremost, it is in Sweden, where a small car company with commercial inability and lack of realism was bankrupted.

Now, however, GM has the opportunity to give us and Saab a second chance. Granted, the odds are pretty slim, but they're there. Maybe we can still get the 9-4x and the 9-5 in our garages.

What is GM planning with the Saab 9-4x? More on that in one of the next articles.

Text: tom@saabblog.net

11 Comments
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Andreas
Andreas
12 years earlier

A Saab still looks the most beautiful in Dresden. 😉

mountain saab
mountain saab
12 years earlier

in front of the 9-7x I did not pay attention to the suv and thought it superfluous. I actually bought it because I did not like the old 9-5, the 9-3 was smaller than my aero9000, and the latter was already over 12 years old and had 250.000km down. the 9-7x was something else and especially amitypisch with a comprehensive range of equipment and things that there is no other saab! The latter unites the 9-4x now and even better and more Saabian! the missing diesel would not have bothered me. but I also like the new 9-5, especially the shape of the limousine is nice! pity that are probably not available now!

Max
Max
12 years earlier

Prop. a really great car. Definitely a strange feeling to have driven in a car that never goes into series production - whatever.

What SAAB eig really is missing is a nice 6 cylinder diesel. The missing in the 9-5 and 9-4X and if you already have it, you could also pack in the 9-3, so it's worth the development.

But unfortunately that's all wishful thinking at the moment ...

Constantin
Constantin
12 years earlier
Reply to  Max

does not it also have something to do with the Saab story that it does not (yet) exist?

Emely
Emely
12 years earlier

Ich hätte auch nichts gegen einen 9-4x(II) aus der Feder von Jason Castriota…….. dies wäre mit ziemlicher Sicherheit kein Nachteil… erstens das neue Saabdesign des 9-3(III) könnte in einer Art fortgesetzt werden, neuestes Technologien wie IQUON udgl könnten Einzug halten und was noch wichtiger ist ein Dieselmotor im 9-4x wäre nicht mehr abwegig…, und würde die Chancen am europäischen Markt deutlich erhöhen…. ein 300PS Benzinmotor mit 200km Spitze ist nicht das Ei des Kolumbus und kann der Mitbewerb sicher besser…

ich sehe in einer Lizenverweigerung eher eine Chance sich abzuheben um eine Wiedergeburt zu feiern mit neuesten Modellen….

Joachim
Joachim
12 years earlier
Reply to  Emely

Emely speaks from my heart! Everything that was still missing from the 9-4 I (very important example: diesel engine) could well be added to a new development - especially an even more typical (original) SAAB design. The latter would also apply to a 9-5 III.

Get away from GM! As soon as possible! When will we finally get information on Rachel Pang's suggestion regarding the continuation of production - Sweden please finally wake up !!!!!!

M850
M850
12 years earlier

Great article, Tom, as always. Would have been a great thing. Maybe you should finally use your qualities for a more meaningful cause. For brands that build cars, I mean 😉. No offense, you know what I mean ...

Search Saab
Search Saab
12 years earlier

Let's bet that the 9-4 X gets a flash that the Antara does not even get into the pots after the facelift.

Hello

Marco

mac9-5
mac9-5
12 years earlier

Every positive report about the 9-4x is like a “stab in the heart”….
Because that would (in spite of my rather general “rejection” of SUVs) would have been the next Swiss ..., Mex ..., uh, Swiss!

A really great car (so from seeing, sitting, feeling, Tatschen, could drive almost only you him)!
Especially the top version with full equipment would have been priced an almost unbeatable offer, right?

saab900
saab900
12 years earlier
Reply to  mac9-5

But at least this is about cars again. Only economics always makes you sick 🙁 I would like to read more about SAABs, also about oldies or about SAAB meetings (if I absolutely have to 😉)

Is there also a report on the 9-5 SC?