The Last Saab Commercial
Among the projects Saab still had going at the end was a new crossover, the 9-4X, to be built at a GM plant in Mexico on a platform shared with the Cadillac SR-X.
MFX is a Swedish commercial media production company which has done the photography for Saab's advertising and promotions for some time. In an attempt to help its ailing customer, MFX offered to produce a promotional video for the 9-4X for free. Saab loaned MFX the prototype, and MFX spent a full rich day shooting footage of the car in and around the city of Gothenburg. It was edited together into this video for use by dealers in promoting the launch of the 9-4X.
Since there now will be no 9-4X, MFX released the video as a tribute to Saab. The music bed is "Make Yourself Heard" by Dutch singer Tara Teresa.
Considering the haste with which it was filmed, the video is remarkably good, and makes the 9-4X look pretty Lust-worthy.
We'll return to happier topics on Friday, with what you might think of as "a very Car Lust Christmas."
--Cookie the Dog's Owner
Dave on December 22, 2011 at 09:41 AM
Obvious freebie. It's not bad but if they were actually paying for it I guarantee someone would've taken the time to remove the oil stains on the ground near the :22 mark and elsewhere. Not to mention all the roads probably would have been hosed down to give it that clean, shiny, reflective floor look.
CJinSD on December 27, 2011 at 04:38 PM
In the US at least, there really was a Saab 9-4x. I suppose they were delivered here first because they were made in Mexico by GM. It was pretty much just an SRX without the one engine offered that anyone was willing to buy and now without a warranty.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on December 28, 2011 at 09:57 AM
CJ, you are correct--a few 9-4Xs did make it into the "stream of commerce" before the final collapse. One of the Cleveland area Saab dealers lists seven 9-4Xs on the lot, discounted 25% from MSRP for their one-week-only closeout liquidation sale, no factory warranty but you can purchase one from a third-party vendor. If I wanted a crossover, was willing to go bare on the warranty, and had $30k or so burning a hole in my pocket, I might go in and see if I could talk 'em down a few grand more. Since it's basically a badge-engineered SRX, you'd be able to get parts and servicing through Caddy dealers.
The 9-3s and 9-5s are listed at about a third off MSRP.