Lexus shows GM’s Saab folly February 28, 2010
Posted by richard in : Uncategorized , trackbackLEXUS will open the 5 doors of its all-new CT 200h next week at Geneva.
This car is a masterstroke. It will take Lexus into the premium mainstream and give the brand instant sustainability. It will do what the A3 did for Audi, and ought to have Lexus car dealers in raptures.
Thing is, it’s so obvious, you have to wonder why they… no, forget that. It’s here, that’s the key. You have, instead, to wonder why blimmin’ GM didn’t let Saab so something similar!
I’ve yet to find out, but I reckon the CT 200h will use something related to the Prius platform, or the Auris platform (which, in upper-spec guise, has the prerequisite multi-link rear suspension). It thus needn’t cost a fortune to develop, nor take a million years or more to make reality.
GM’s Vauxhall/Opel, of course, has the Astra platform. Which is simple, cheap to produce and flexible enough to be made in a variety of guises. While no class-leader, the old-shape model was decent enough, and the Astra Sport Hatch proved there was loads of flexibility in the hard points.
How stunningly delicious would a premium compact Saab hatch been, then? Sporty styling, lots of aircraft cues (think Astra Panorama windscreen…), punchy turbo engines and a mad, torque-steering VXR-engined Aero Turbo range-topper to please the enthusiasts.
Computer-controlled damper availability – something you still can’t get on a Ford Focus, note – would have injected some extra Saab fan cool factor. And I’m sure they could have reconfigured the instrument pack to slot in a turbo boost gauge.
Vauxhall Astra TwinTop? What a great Saab 9-2 Convertible it would have made. Even the petrol engines are, Saab-style, called ‘Ecotec’.
It would potentially have been great. Fantastic. Brought to life all those great concepts that the firm continually showed. But, while it was mooted for years, GM ummed and aahed and never committed the money.
Had it have done, I’m almost sure Saab wouldn’t have floundered and fell from its grasp. The new Lexus could also have had a mighty all-new challenger to compete for the limelight at Geneva, too. Yup, a gen-2 Saab premium compact, based on the much-improved platform of the latest Astra.
Alas, it’s yet another car industry if-only…
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