Saab confirms 9-4X launch 01 | 09 | 2010

SCOTS LOVERS of Saab will be licking their lips in anticipation after the company, now under Spyker ownership, confirmed it will unveil its 9-4X crossover at the Los Angeles motor show in mid-November.

The newcomer, based on a new platform called Theta Premium which mixes components from General Motor’s Theta and Epsilon 2 platforms, will go on sale in Scotland late next year. Saab engineers are still tweaking the interior, though it's likely the dashboard will be very similar to that found in the new 9-5.

Unfortunately though, it's also likely the car will probably be available only with the 2.8-litre turbocharged V6 petrol engine; a result, essentially, of the fact the car is aimed fairly and squarely at the American market where it is a sister car to Cadillac’s new SRX.

There are whispers that the company is, at least, working on a diesel solution but that looks to be facing problems already. Because the oilburners have to be sourced for the GM factory in Mexico where the 9-4x is built, it's likely Saab engineers will have to carry out the conversion. Why? Because — surprise, surprise — it's unlikely Cadillac will want the powerplant in the SRX.