The 9-3 is an old horse. The 9-4X is a good looker but must fight for sales in a fiercely competitive segment where a handful of players have established themselves as go-to premium products. The new 9-5 sedan is unique in a way no Saab has been in years, but it hasn't had much of an opportunity to catch on in the marketplace.
Saab sold just 93 9-5s in the United States in May. Mercedes-Benz sold 62 E-Class sedans for every 9-5 sold last month. Even the Cadillac STS was a more likely purchase than the 9-5.
Yet here we have the Saab 9-5 SportCombi, a vehicle I wouldn't hesitate to call one of the most beautiful new wagons the world of automobile manufacturing has to offer. Can it do anything to stem the tide at Saab? Long before the recession, long before its former parent's problems, Saab sales were tumbling hard and fast. That's borne out by the chart you can scan below. Can a wagon, of all things, be the change that will turn Saab from a dying marque into a powerful luxury rival for, at the very least, Volvo?
No, probably not.
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