Saab History

Photo Credit: Saab Automobile

I recently participated in another installment of the GM Next chat with Saab Designer, Anthony Lo. Anthony Lo joined Saab Automobile AB in October, 2000, as chief designer for Advanced Design. Lo has lead the design of the Saab 9-X, 9-3X, 9-3 Sport Hatch, and Aero-X, 9-4x, 9-X BioHybrid concept cars.

I was very interested to hear many of his responses to the questions posed: Please keep in mind that the order in which the questions posted did not necessarily sync up with all answers, so please use your own intuition.

Here is the full chat transcript below:

NoSpeaker: Anthony Lo, Director of Advanced Design, General Motors Europe
Region: North America
Date: 25 - March - 2008
Time: 10:30 –11:30 a.m. (EST)

SME: Anthony Lo, Director of Advanced Design, General Motors Europe
Date: 2008-March-25
Time: 10:30 –11:30 a.m. (EST)

A.Lo.Moderator:
Hello everyone, I’m Dave Roman, Director of GM Europe Technology & Design Communications, and I will be your moderator for this webchat session. Anthony has arrived and he is logging into the chat right now. We’ll get started in a moment.

SaabHistory.com:
What are your thoughts on the Saab 9-X BioHybrid?

Anthony.Lo:
Good morning! The 9-X BioHybrid is our vision on what a compact size Saab would look líke.

SaabHistory.com:
On model nomenclature: Why was the Saab 9-X reusing the 9-X again, instead of 9-1x?

Anthony.Lo:
As it remains as a concept, we would like to reuse the 9-X nomenclature.

SaabHistory.com:
On Technology: What will be making production (ie. Solar Panels, etc.) and do the solar panels on this car actually work this time or is it just theoretical?

Anthony.Lo:
The hybrid system is announced for production on future GM vehicles. On the solar panel, we are working on several studies on how to improve battery performance and solar is one of them. The panel itself does not work on the concept.

Read more »

Film Credit: Saab History

Saab Designer, Bryan Nesbitt offered his time to speak to a number of members of the press at the New York International Auto Show during a group discussion.

I think that you will find his frank and to the point insight and information about the Saab 9-X BioHybrid as well as the driving styles in the United States versus Europe very interesting indeed.

A special thanks again goes to Saab Automobile USA, General Motors & Saab of Hunterdon / JMK Saab for making this interview possible.

In addition to the Saab Gear Shifter component from Bryan Nesbitt’s presentation, here is another component that features some possibile Saab key fobs we may see in the future with Saab products. Interesting indeed, what do you think?

I hope to see some more great products coming out!!

Photo Credit: GM Design

As a follow-up from the first slide on the 11 Global Design Centers thanks to Bryan Nesbitt, I am providing another slide from his presentation that he showcased to the audience at the New England Auto Show back in November of 2007 on Saab Design.

This slide covers the Saab Brand component, the gear shifter. I tried to see if this looked anything like what we’ve seen in any of the concept cars such as the 9-X, 9-3X, 9-3 SportHatch, Aero-X, 9-4x BioPower & 9-X BioHybrid and it does not. I wonder if this will be seen in a future concept or production model? What are your thoughts on this gear shifter?

A very special thank you to Bryan Nesbitt as well as the staff at the GM Design Center in North America for sharing this material with us here. This presentation many of us enjoyed back at Boston was just too good to not share with the readers on Saab History. I hope this posting as well as the more I showcase here, provide some clarity in terms of where Saab Automobile’s design process takes place within General Motors, globally.

Photo Credit: Saab Automobile AB

Michael Mauer was born on July 28th, 1962 in the German town of Rotenburg/Fulda, but grew up in Höchenschwand, in the Black Forest. He studied automobile design from 1982 to 1986 at the Polytechnic in Pforzheim, and from there secured his first job in the Design area of Mercedes-Benz AG in Sindelfingen. In 1989 he was appointed Design Project Leader, and two years later oversaw design work for the first SLK model generation. In July 1995, the company appointed him Head of Department and entrusted him with design responsibility for the A-Class, SLK and SL models.

In 1998 Michael Mauer moved to the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studio in Tokyo, Japan, as General Manager, and was intensively involved in advanced development work on various model lines. A year later, he was put in charge of Design at MCC Smart GmbH. This was where he met up with Anthony Lo, who together for a number of years in the Saab design center.

In June 2000 Michael Mauer took a position with Saab Automobile as Executive Director Design and worked at the Saab Design Center in Pixbo / Mölnlycke, Sweden. Since March of 2003,
Saab Automobile’s Board of Management appointed Michael Mauer as Chief Designer of Saab and Advanced Concept Center General Motors Europe.

In July of 2004, Michael Mauer left Saab Automobile and took a position with Porsche.

Since working with Saab, he was responsible for the design of the Saab 9-X, 9-3X, 9-3 Sport Hatch, concept cars and the wheels for the Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan, the production version of the Saab 9-3 SportCombi and MY2004-2007 Saab 9-3 Convertible design, and the 9-2X.

 
Saab Automobile’s advertising company, Lowe Brindfors has produced yet another interview film, featuring reporter Malin Hallberg who covers the 9-X BioHybrid premiere at the recent Geneva Auto Show earlier this past week.

In this interview, she speaks to Anthony Lo, Director Advanced Design, GM Europe Design as well as Kjell ac Bergström, the President & CEO of Saab Automobile AB’s powertrain. Enjoy the interviews.

Photo Credits: Etienne / Saabhuy.net

This past Monday evening at approximately 5:30pm at the Geneva Auto Show, Saab Automobile released a concept vehicle labeled as the Saab 9-X BioHybrid. The Saab 9-X BioHybrid is Saab Automobile’s 2nd, BioPower Hybrid vehicle release, following the Saab 9-3 BioPower Hybrid Convertible Concept that had its World Premier in Stockholm, Sweden back on March 30th, 2006. The Saab 9-X BioHybrid vehicle, also marks Saab Automobile’s 5th concept vehicle based solely on BioPower, following most recently, the Saab 9-4x BioPower Concept, the Saab 9-5 BioPower E100 Concept, the aforementioned Saab 9-3 BioPower Hybrid Convertible Concept, and of course the Saab Aero-X Concept.

Since this premiere of the Saab 9-X BioHybrid, I have been posting press material, photographs, interviews on camera, and even reviews by the media as well. After all of this, I have felt that it’s about time that I chime in on my thoughts on this new concept car by Saab Automobile.

As an designer for nearly 10 years now in the architecture industry in parallel to my developing knowledge with the Saab Automobile brand, I believe that I have been able to better understand what makes a Saab, a Saab, and vice-versa.

In the next few weeks, I am planning on attending the New York Auto Show in New York City, where I understand both the Saab 9-X BioHybrid Concept, Saab 9-4x BioPower Concept, and the Aero-X concept cars will be present. At this event, I will presumably get the chance to experience more of the 9-X BioHybrid in person and will be interested to see if my analysis below, at this time, changes.

Here is my detailed analysis of the Saab 9-X BioHybrid Concept Car in terms of technology & design, both inside and out:

On Technology:

BioPower: The BioPower 1.4-liter BioPower turbo engine is a very important inclusion in this segment, and all segments for the Saab Automobile brand. The right-sized engine, as Saab calls it, is as I am calling it, “right for this size”. This is exactly the right proportional powertrain for this segment, and it is important that Saab continues to move in this direction, especially since they have been holding this position as a leader with small vehicles that have been extremely capable in terms of “responsible performance” is concerned (ie. “More brains not braun”).

Hybrid: The hybrid system had to be used in this segment because, frankly, Saab has the technology now, and many of us were wondering if we would ever see it again since their earlier Saab 9-3 BioPower Hybrid convertible concept that premiered back in 2006. If you look at all of the patents that Saab Automobile have out in the European Patent office, you will see that their progressive and exhaustive work in this area, is critical to their survival and absolutely necessary for any future product deployment.

The nature of how the BioPower and the Hybrid technology compliment each other is really where Saab Automobile has strength, so I can only hope to see more and more of this.

Solar Cells: This application is really nostalgic for me as it harkens back to the first Saab concept car that debuted in 1985, known as the EV-1. In the EV-1, Saab applied this solar cell technology to merely cool the cabin. I really respect and appreciate how Saab used this technology again, but in a more progressive and practical application by the powering of the hybrid charging system. I hope that this technology reaches production, however, the solar cell idea in my knowledge, has never seen a production car in history. I think that solar cells have been used for almost 40 years now with automobiles in the research and development community, maybe Saab Automobile will break the mold and be the first? Remember, Saab Automobile has always been about industry firsts.

XWD: The exclusion of this technology even in “theory” with the Saab 9-X BioHybrid, came as a complete shock to me. I searched through every press release to see if I overlooked it and I realized that I did not. I think that Saab really missed the mark on this one by not including this in this concept vehicle, it’s inconsistent and an absolute requirement here. I also think that in this concept car, the production vehicle in this segment is really where Saab can excel, so therefore, it should be loaded with “all of Saab’s technology under one roof” so to speak, without question, including Cross-Wheel Drive. I hope that Saab Automobile’s leadership seriously reconsiders this omission of XWD with the 9-X BioHybrid. There can’t be any trade-offs in the areas of purchasing consideration with the general public, so let’s give it everything you have.

On Design:

Interior: I have not seen much of the interior as of yet and I don’t think it will do it justice unless it is in person. Given that this is a concept car, I think it makes more sense to wait until I get a chance for a better visual (ie. with my own eyes in person), in order to give my opinions. With that all said however, I can say that at first glance from the photos I have seen, the “ice block” interior lighting color appeared off. The green accent lighting does not coincide with Aero-X and should, the green hue is too light, and not the turquoise green we have been conditioned to expect. It seems like this color was changed for change sake, and with a lot of new design taking place, it would be nice to see some new consistency in certain “shared” design elements, even if new. I think that as much as I like progressive design, some consistency needs to be had, otherwise, it gets a little unstable and disconcerting.

Exterior: In terms of the exterior, the first thing that I zeroed in on was towards the rear end with the c-pillar design. There was no inclusion of the critical Saab design element of the “hockey stick” c-pillar and that is important, given that it has been an evolving staple of the Saab lineage since the very first prototype in 1947, the 92001. The tail gate here seems to be the first application of this idea, and I think it needs to be a true combi coupe hatch or at least a hatch like we’ve seen with the SportCombi that evolved from the Saab 9-3x concept car that debuted in 2002. We’ve been conditioned to expect this design, based off of the lineage continuation of it, so anything except that, is simply unnacceptable.

The front end of this powerful airplane on wheels, included a very well designed wrap-around windscreen seamlessly connected with the doors & door glass. The beltline that tied this effect together was a lot lower than I thought it was, and wonder if we’ll get to see a “true” clamshell hood like we’ve seen on the classic Saab 900, which was the last Saab model that truely represented a clamshell hood. I also really enjoyed the front-end of the vehicle design, and could appreciate the extension of the LED brow effect shown on the 2008 Saab 9-3 models, to more of a “unibrow” design. What is typically not acceptable with humans, can sometimes be acceptable with automobiles, if done “right”. I’ve never been a fan of the unibrow, but in this case, I must agree that it was very well executed on the Saab 9-X BioHybrid.

Wheels: The turbine wheel design evolution seems to be working, and the design acceleration seems to be paced well with the models it has been applied to, which by the way, have been showcased in all of the 5 BioPower concept cars by the way. I did not see too much of an evolution from the Aero-X concept car that first introduced us to the aircraft inspired turbine wheels and this is consistancy, which is a good thing. We are still adjusting to this idea, so I hope that Saab doesn’t depart too far, from where they are today with the wheel design.

These are my initial take aways on the Saab 9-X BioHybrid concept. I see the Saab 9-X BioHybrid as a great design exercise that I hope will see production, but not in its present state. I hope that the aforementioned details that I have outlined, are considered at the absolute minimum, before the planning of the production version is complete. It is important that these design and technology details are addressed by Saab Automobile in the near future, as this much needed segment for the brand can’t come any sooner.

I look forward to the New York Auto Show as I mentioned, so that I can inspect the Saab 9-X closer for some even more detailed analysis on fit & finish, decision on material choices, feel, etc.

I leave you with a design charette that I did, as a new proposal to the current Saab 9-X BioHybrid’s c-pillar and tail gate design. I think that the Saab community will appreciate the historical Saab lineage roots that it includes.

Read more »

Photo Credits: Saab Automobile AB

Here is the full transcript of the (P)reveal presentation from the live web cast that I missed this morning. A thanks for Saab Automobile USA for providing this for us to read here on Saab History.

Steve Shannon:

Good morning everyone. Thanks for joining us today.

We wish that all of you could be here in Geneva to attend the Saab event, live. However, since that’s not possible, we thought that we’d bring you the next best thing…

We wish that all of you could be here in Geneva to attend the Saab event, live. However, since that’s not possible, we thought that we’d bring you the next best thing…

Historically, Saab has had a different approach to solving motoring dilemmas. Whether in its approach to design, powertrain or safety.

In the area of powertrain, our 30-year history in turbocharging is key … eking out the most power and performance from the smallest engines. In fact, in the United States, more than 85 percent of Saabs sold are high-performing, fuel-efficient 2 liter, 4 cylinder engines.

Read more »

Giorgetto Giugiaro born in Cuneo Italy on August 7th, 1938. Giugiaro began working with Saab-Scania on the Saab 9000 body design in 1978. The conceptual designs that Guigiaro designed, continued until 1981. The Saab 9000 was finally shown to the public in may of 1984, however the engine for the 9000 was shown a year earlier in Geneva in March of 1983.

The Saab 9000 design followed the first project that Giugaro also designed as part of this venture which was known as the Saab Lancia 600 project, that was sold only in Sweden.

Today, Giugaro works as a product designer and head of Giugiaro Design in Italy. I highly suggest you visit his website.

Here is a quote from the former Saab 9000 designer himself:

“Right from the moment I started my career as a car designer, I was convinced that an enormous opportunity would have slipped away had I not transferred, within the sphere of product design, the complex, albeit effective, automotive design methodology to other mass production sectors.”

- Giorgetto Giugiaro

Source: http://www.giugiarodesign.it

Below is a nice writeup from

Giorgetto Giugiaro, born in Cuneo, Italy in 1938 is one of the great automobile and industrial designers of the 20th century. He is credited with designing more cars than anyone else, and these include some of the best-selling and most beautiful automobiles ever produced.

Giugiaro grew up with art and design: His grandfather Luigi painted church frescoes. His father, Mario, made decorative religious art and oil paintings while he was growing up near Cuneo in northwest Italy. In Turin, Giugiaro studied art by day and technical design by night. In June 1955, some of his many car sketches were mounted in an end-of-the-year school exhibition. Dante Giacosa, Fiat’s technical director, saw the talent behind his work and hired him three months later. He had just turned 17.

Although producing some very interesting early work, Giugiaro found it difficult to grow at Italy’s largest auto manufacturer and towards the end of 1959 he joined Bertone. There he penned some of his most important works: the Alfa Romeo Giulia GT, the Fiat 850 Spider, as well as the Testudo and Canguro prototypes.

At the end of 1965, when Ghia had been written off as being on the road to folding, Giugiaro became head of Ghia’s design office in a surprise move that shocked the design world. His first works were studies for Volkswagen and Isuzu, and the four cars presented at the 1966 Motor Show: Maserati Ghibli, De Tomaso Pampero, De Tomaso Mangusta and Fiat Vanessa. The Maserati Ghibli and the De Tomaso Pampero were regarded instantly as masterpieces, and launched Ghia once again in to the spotlight. His work for Isuzu was very important at this time and the Japanese manufacturer built a large number of Ghia designs.

Hungry to establish his own company, ItalDesign made its debut at the 1968 Turin Motor Show with the Manta prototype. At Italdesign Giugiaro styled over 80 production cars and numerous prototypes and concepts. Various Giugiaro-designed automobiles, including the 1974 Golf, 1980 Fiat Uno and the 1993 Fiat Punto were the most-sold automobiles of their respective production years.

It is interesting to note that Giugiaro began the “folded paper” era of the 1970s, where cars took on sharp edges, like his Lotus Esprit, Volkswagen Golf, Hyundai Pony and the Lancia Delta. He also introduced the trend toward “tall-body” design with Fiat Panda and Uno which have a great influence on modern car design since the early 1980s.

Beginning in the 1970s, ItalDesign extended it’s scope to product design including cameras for Nikon, sewing machines for Necchi, and watches for Seiko. His daughter Laura is managing director of the family-controlled Italdesign-Giugiaro SpA, and his son Fabrizio has taken over the styling and prototype studio. Recent work includes the Lexus GS300 and the Daewoo lineup.

Back to list of Honored Designers

Source: http://www.brophy.com/eodweb/htmls/designers/giugiaro.htm

Photo Credit: GM Design

Bryan Nesbitt, GM’s Vice President of Design in North America has recently provided Saab History with his wonderful presentation that he showed at the Boston Auto Show back in November of 2007 during the 2008 9-3 Turbo-X Launch.

I have decided to provide this information over time, beginning with this post that includes the visual above that illustrates the 11 Global Design Centers of General Motors.

Out of these design centers, as far as Saab Automobile is concerned, the Pixbo Design Center in Molnlycke, Sweden just outside of Göteborg as well as the GM Europe Design Center in Russelheim, Germany are where the future Saab products are designed today.

These two design centers work together in concert with all of the members that comprise the Saab Brand Center also in Sweden to best communicate that design language in all of the right places.

It is also interesting to note that I have discovered while visiting the GM Heritage Center in Michigan, that besides their archives for Saab Automobile, each of these design centers have their own archives as well. It would be nice to find out whether either the Pixbo or the GM Europe Design center archives, happen to have Sixten Sason’s and Rolf Melde’s original drawings and engineering blueprints for the first SAAB 92 on hand.

A very special thank you to Bryan Nesbitt as well as the staff at the GM Design Center in North America for sharing this material with us here. This presentation many of us enjoyed back at Boston was just too good to not share with the readers on Saab History. I hope this posting provides some clarity in terms of where Saab Automobile’s design process takes place within General Motors, globally.

Film Credit: Lowe Brindfors

The Saab Ice Experience is in full swing in Northern Sweden in a town called Jukkasjärvi, Sweden at the world famouse Ice Hotel as mentioned earlier with Saab’s Move Your Mind theme.

This Ice Hotel takes in millions of visitors from all over the world each year to enjoy an ice experience unlike anything else, where among other things, they spend their nights sleeping in a hotel made with over 100 million liters of water, below minus 5 degrees centigrade.

In the film above, Yngve Bergkvist, the CEO of the Ice Hotel, who spoke in person back in April of last year at the House of Sweden in Washington, D.C., gives us a nice welcome in Swedish to this hotel and all of the features. This introduction is followed by a nice interview with Saab Automobile design chief, Simon Padian where he describes his involvement in designing the autom