2007 Saab 9-3 2.0t Sedan 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 2004 Saab 9-5 Arc Wagon

As I work on my project of documenting automotive history via the machinery I find in car graveyards around the country, blank spots in the junkyard record keep showing themselves. I've remedied the lack of discarded BMW 3- and 5-Series cars in recent months, through the E46 and E39 respectively, and now I'm trying to move past the 900 in the Saab timeline. We've got the 9000 covered, and now it's the turn of the 9-3 and 9-5. Here's an '04 9-5 Arc Wagon, found in a Denver yard recently (I shot a 9-3 on the same trip and you'll see it in the near future). General Motors took over Saab in 2000, after more than a decade of 50% ownership, and so the 9-5 (or 95 if you prefer) had plenty of Opel/Holden/Vauxhall DNA in its cells. Its closest American-market relative (other than the 9-3) was the Saturn L-Series. However, you couldn't get a Saturn with a proper Saab engine under the hood, and by "proper" we mean one descended from the original Triumph Slant-4. This 2.3T turbocharged version sent 220 horsepower to the front wheels, making this a nicely quick wagon. It appears that this car endured some lean times as it approached the end of its road, with the kind of leaky-side-glass repair you do only when you know you're a car's final owner. You could get the 9-5 Wagon as the Linear, Arc, or Aero models in 2004. The Aero was the factory-hot-rod version, while the Arc was more about luxury. The leather seats in this Arc still look pretty good. Even though this car's ancestry is more German than Swedish, it has the traditional Saab console-mounted ignition switch. When it came time for The General to sell Subaru Imprezas with Saab badging, however, the ignition switches stayed in the non-Saab locations. At least the Saab-badged Chevy Trailblazer had the switch in the Trollhatten-approved location. It doesn't look as quirky as the early Saabs, which were born from Flying Barrels, but it stood up well against the competing cars offered to America's ever-shrinking pool of station wagon shoppers. Built in Sweden by Swedes! Would this have happened with an Audi wagon?   Featured Gallery Junked 2004 Saab 9-5 Arc Wagon View 26 Photos Auto News Saab Automotive History Wagon Junkyard Gems

Former Saab chairman Muller faces summons in tax inquiry

Former Saab Chairman Victor Muller may be called in for questioning as part of an official inquiry into suspected tax evasion by three of the automaker's former executives. A prosecutor has officially named former CEO Jan-Ake Jonsson and two other executives in the investigation, and official court documents say that Muller will be called in by the Financial Crimes Unit. According to Reuters, prosecutors are currently looking into allegations that the executives worked to dodge taxes between 2010 and 2011, when the automaker finally went into bankruptcy.
The Truth About Cars reports the investigation may center around the $540,000 paid as consulting fees to Latin America Tug Holding NV, a company Muller owns. It's possible that the Swedish authorities believe the Saab executives were using the tug boat company as a tax haven, and that the automaker should have paid taxes and social security contributions on the money. Muller has not been charged.
Meanwhile, Muller is defending his earnings in a new interview with Automotive News. Having come under fire for his $773,000 salary at Saab, the Spyker CEO said his pay was commensurate with an executive running a company with 4,000 employees.

Look familiar? NEVS 9-3, 9-3X are Saab-derived EVs for China

National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) have been working on creating EVs based on its Saab assets for years. We heard back in 2015 that we'd have an EV based on the 9-3 this year, and now we're finally getting to see the results. NEVS has unveiled its 9-3 and 9-3X EV concepts, which it will use in a mobility project in Tianjin, China. NEVS is showing the 9-3 EVs at CES Asia in Shanghai on June 7-9, where it will also provide more details about the cars, its Tianjin project, and future plans for the brand. As for Tianjin, NEVS will provide the cars and the services for carsharing and ride-hailing programs in the city. For that project, NEVS is collaborating with Tianjin Binhai Hi-tech Industrial Development Area (THT), which is the industrial park where its shared factory (with joint venture partner Dongfeng) and R&D center are located. NEVS President Mattias Bergman says, "We are excited by this great opportunity to develop smart, sustainable mobility solutions together with a progressive city as Tianjin, and develop them in full scale with real people in real life situations, with the vision to create a future integrated urban mobility solution." As for the 9-3 EVs, they're not much different in appearance from the GM-era Saabs, but they have NEVS badging (NEVS doesn't have rights to the Saab trademark). They have a driving range of about 186 miles, offer in-car Wi-Fi, smartphone connectivity, and can get over-the-air software updates. NEVS says the cars are equipped with a "world-class" cabin air filter, which helps keep harmful particulates out of the car (important in the polluted urban centers China is working to improve). They're being built in China, and are expected to hit the roads there in 2018. Related Video: