Saab starts exodus from Downunder

Saab is winding up the 9-5 sedan and wagon ahead of next year's revised model.

Struggling Swedish marque Saab is cutting its model range for Australia and New Zealand by half, a shake-out that reduces its variants from 62 to 34.

Sales across the ditch are down 33 per cent this year to around 650 units. Sales in New Zealand for the past few years have been almost negligible, less than one car a week.

Saab will wind up the 12-year-old 9-5 sedan and wagon ahead of the new model next year and cut 27 variants from the remaining 9-3 range, many of which are base-model petrol-only models.

The revised range will include more E85 ethanol-capable BioPower powertrains and comes as Saab parent General Motors gets set to sell the Swedish brand to Scandinavian super-sportscar maker Koenigsegg Automotive AB, a move that will force a new distribution arrangement for Australia and New Zealand.

Saab is handled in New Zealand and Australia by Holden-based GM Premium Brands, established a few years ago to distribute GM-owned niche brands that also included Hummer and Cadillac.

But the global financial crisis changed things. GM sold Hummer to Chinese company Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co, and Holden axed plans to import Cadillac.

The early demise of the current 9-5 range means Saab dealers will have to make do with the Saab 9-3 in sedan, Sportcombi wagon and Convertible forms until the arrival next year of the new 9-5.

Distribution of Saab in New Zealand and Australia also needs to be resolved once GM completes the Saab sale in Sweden.

In trimming the 9-3 list, Saab has focused on deleting modest-performing, petrol-only model specifications, such as most of the base-engine 129kW Linear and Vector petrol variants, which have been selling in parallel with their 147kW 2.0-litre BioPower-engined counterparts.

The combination of front-drive and high-power 206kW 2.8-litre turbo V6 also has been put to the sword in the sedan and wagon, with Saab Australia's product managers retaining only the all-wheel-drive XWD variants powered by the Holden-made engine.

The V6 Aero Convertible, however, keeps the front-drive/V6 configuration, along with the distinction of being the most expensive Saab in the revised range.

Most of the ethanol E85-capable BioPower and 1.9-litre diesel variants have escaped the axe. The BioPower engines can run on straight petrol if no ethanol is available.

No date has yet been announced for the arrival of the new 9-5, although most observers expect it to appear in 2010 to resume its flagship status.

This second-generation 9-5 - built on GM's Epsilon II platform that also spawned the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia and Buick LaCrosse - was unveiled at the recent Frankfurt motor show.

It will feature head-up information display, adaptive headlights (bi-Xenon "Smart Beam"), adaptive cruise control, adaptive chassis with real-time damping control (dubbed "Saab DriveSense"), tri-zone climate-control air-conditioning, dynamic parking assistance and keyless entry and start.

The engine range announced in Frankfurt appears to be similar to the current 9-3 offerings but with a bit more pep, starting with a 162kW 2.0-litre petrol and BioPower turbo four-cylinder to a 300kW 2.8-litre turbo V6 and 2.0-litre turbo diesel.

The turbo V6 - a first for the 9-5 - will be available only with automatic transmission and all-wheel drive.