text by: TurboNines Staff

Here’s something you don’t see every day. A multi-national car manufacturing company in the heat of financial crisis files a patent for a model it had planned to build based on a the product of another company of which an ownership stake was sold years ago. Strange right? That’s exactly what we thought when photos and information turned up this week on Saab news blogs TrollhattanSaab.net and SaabHistory.com. Then again, it might make sense.

First the background. Back in the summer of 2005, it was a not-so-well kept secret that General Motors planned a Saab model expansion based on Subaru product. The General had acquired a 20% stake in Subaru’s parent Fuji Heavy Industries and had already placed a reskinned Subaru Impreza dubbed 9-2x into American Saab dealerships.



The plan was expected to continue with a re-designed variant of the 7-passenger Subaru B9 Tribeca. According to Edmunds.com at the time, Subaru would build up to 15,000 Saab 9-6x models alongside the Tribeca at the company’s Indiana factory. Unlike the now retired 9-2x, the 9-6x was planned for export to other world markets including Europe.

By October of 2005, things had changed. GM announced it would sell its 25% stake in Fuji to Toyota, who then planned to up their total share in Subaru’s parent to 45%. The 9-6x was cancelled and GM moved on.

Details of just how close the 9-6x was to market remain sketchy. Spy photos of full-size design models, including an odd 3-door version did turn up on websites like TrollhattanSaab. From that we can assume design was finalized. In the world of car manufacturing, that’s pretty far along. Capital had definitely been invested.

There were rumors that Subaru used some Saab-developed design in its 2007 freshening of the then-wonky Tribeca. A newer and more conservative face emerged on Subaru’s 7-passenger crossover.



Fast forward to last week. An enterprising reader of TrollhattanSaab.net’s, username ‘edusaab’, who has an uncanny navigation ability with the US Patent Office’s website, discovered these images in a patent filed just this month.

Comparing the photos, you can now see the current facelifted Tribeca appears to use 9-6x sheet metal. The design of the hood, front quarter panels, doors and rear quarter panels all appear to be nearly identical to the Saab’s design when the Saab images are examined. But why file the patent in November 2008… three years after the fact?

Thinking about the current cash-starved plight of Saab and its owner GM, the idea of a rejuvenated 9-6x project begins to make sense. Consider these factors…



First, GM is doesn’t have much in the way of resources on hand. Development of existing projects such as the next-generation 9-5, the 9-4x, next-generation 9-3, etc. will all suffer from delays. Even when they do debut, a 9-6x wouldn’t exactly conflict with any of them.

Second, GM is about one month away from closing its Moraine plant in Ohio. This plant builds the 9-7x alongside domestic SUVs like the Chevrolet Trailblazer. The 9-7x has never been a huge success, but it still helps the bottom line for Saab dealers and filled the need for a larger SUV product. Its loss leaves an opening – an opening that fits nicely above the 9-4x.

Next, a new model with a signed-off on design would cost much less to bring to market and could be done in a fraction of the time. In addition, GM has a history of partnering with Toyota in joint projects. The Pontiac Vibe / Toyota Matrix pair are now in their second generation, and there was the Geo Prizm long before that.



Even better, Subaru is expected to be selling diesel-powered vehicles in America by 2010 according to comments made by company president Ikuo Mori at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. Subaru now sells a commonrail horizontally opposed 2.0-liter diesel engine with 148 hp and 258 lb-ft that’ll achieve 60.5 mpg in a Legacy sedan. Could that be enough to power a 9-6x or the Tribeca? We’re not sure. Horsepower is down 118 from the B9’s 3.6-liter H6, but the little diesel produces 11 more lb-ft of torque over a wider range.

You also have to wonder if the additional potential sales numbers provided by 9-6x sales in America, Europe and other markets couldn’t help make a business case for an H6 version of Subaru’s Boxer Diesel. Back in 2005 when the Saab version was still a go, Subaru execs were talking of hybrid and diesel variants. Could the promised sales numbers of a 9-6x fast-track this development? Certainly Toyota’s own prowess in hybrid drivetrain technology could be tapped.

So there it is – our theory on why Saab would bother to file a patent for a once-dead SUV project three years after the fact. The theory is based on a lot of circumstantial evidence and a healthy level of assumption, so take it for what you will. Still, you have to wonder.

Background Information:
Saab 9-6x Patent Listing
TrollhattanSaab.net Article
SaabHistory.com Article
Subaru Boxer Diesel Microsite
Edmunds.com's 'Saab 9-6x Gets The Go Ahead' Article (2005)
Edmunds.com's 'GM Cancels the Saab 9-6x' Article (2005)
Edmunds.com's 'Subaru Eyes Diesel, Hybrid Tribeca Variants' Article (2005)
Truck Trend's Subaru Legacy Boxer Diesel Test Drive