LA Auto Show: Saab 9-4X

by David Kiley (RSS feed)
Nov 18th 2010 at 9:02PM

Swedish automaker Saab was sold last year by owner General Motors to exotic car maker Spyker. And though Spyker is anxious to chart a new course for the always quirky Saab, the ties to GM re still very much in evidence.

Witness the debut of the Saab 9-4 luxury crossover at the LA Auto Show, a fine looking vehicle that was completely developed by GM on the same platform as the Cadillac SRX crossover. That's not a bad thing, as the bones of the SRX are very nice indeed.

Even under GM management, though, the Swedes were allowed to Saabify the 9-4 as much as possible. Indeed, the exterior styling does look more akin to the Saab 9-5 sedan than the SRX.

It has lots of luxe goodies like eight-way power adjustable seats, Bluetooth connectivity and a tri-zone climate control system. Under the hood, there is a naturally-aspirated 265-horsepower 3.0-liter V6 and a direct-injection, turbocharged 2.8-liter V6 that produces pumps 300 hp. Both engines are mated to a six-speed automatic gearbox. All-wheel-drive is standard.

Gallery: LA Auto Show: All New Saab 9-4