Now that the Saab brand is probably down forever, Rick Kranz of Automotive News ponders whether the 9-4x crossover could be rebadged and sold under one of General Motors brands.
I'd say the answer to this question is almost certainly no. The 9-4x was developed while GM still owned the Swedish brand and was briefly built at the same Mexican factory that builds the mechanically identical Cadillac SRX and formerly built the very similar Saturn Vue (and now the fleet-only Chevy Captiva).
Kranz posits that with a new fascia, the 9-4x could become an overseas Chevy or Opel crossover. That would be a great idea if GM didn't already have Chevy and Opel crossovers of the same size that are sold elsewhere. The Opel Antara is a re-badged version of the defunct Vue and the Captiva fills Chevy showrooms. While it's a shame to discard the Saab body and interior tooling, it really doesn't seem like there is a viable option.
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Could GM resurrect the Saab 9-4X under a different badge?
DETROIT — General Motors has a perfectly good crossover that's waiting to be produced. Actually it was produced — several hundred were assembled before production was halted. I'm talking abo…
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For some reason, I keep thinking both Volvo and Saab went out of business. I'm surprised every time I see a Volvo commercial on TV now.
Did Kranz serve as a product planner for Buick around the time Oldsmobile kicked the bucket? Seems like the same flawed line of thinking that produced the Rainier.
That's the craziest idea since the Saab 9-4X
+Walter Lounsbery Volvo was sold by Ford in 2010 to Geely. And in case you didn't know, Volvo is profitable.
OT: I don't think that GM would be stupid enough to start building & selling the 9-4X with a different facia. They can use the production capacity to build more Cadillac SRXes.
As I understand it the demand for that car is very high.