The folks over at Saabsunited were quick to pick up an article from Swedish business daily Dagen Industri claiming that, according to an unnamed inside source, GM will re-badge the 2010 SAAB 9-5 sedan as a Buick in the USA and use some of the tech on a future flagship Opel sedan in Europe. The author of the fable story, Ian Wadenal, goes on to tell us how well the 9-5 would fit in Buick's range, sitting atop the new 2011 Regal a.k.a. the U.S-spec Opel Insignia.
You'll probably read the same story elsewhere, and if you're a car guy, you'll shake your head with stupefaction because Buick already has a similar-sized model in the States, the new LaCrosse that shares the same Epsilon II platform and possibly other hardware with the 9-5.
A more compact version of the Epsilon II is also used on the Opel Insignia - Buick Regal.
We're not saying that there's no place for a re-badged Saab 9-5 in GM's global portfolio, but we can't see it being done for Buick in the States (obvious why) nor for Cadillac and Opel (at least in their core markets) simply because both of these brands have spent money and time to create their own design language.
We're all in for saving SAAB and we respect the efforts of enthusiasts, but if anything else, some common sense is necessary when re-telling / reporting stories...
Source: Dagen , Via: Saabsunited
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