Saab 9-5 estate Scotland-bound 20 | 01 | 2011

SAAB IN SCOTLAND has always performed better than across the rest of the UK, so fans of the Swedish-built cars will no doubt be pleased to see this first image of the all-new Saab 9-5 Sportwagon.

Scheduled to make its first public appearance at the Geneva Motor Show in March — the same time the order books will open at Saab dealerships across Scotland — the company believes the new Sportwagon will give a significant boost to its volumes. Historically the previous 9-5 estate accounted for around 50% of sales.

Based on the saloon, the distinctive rear-end styling of the Sportwagon closely follows the shape of the previous 9-5 estate — with the distinctive sweeping ‘hockey stick’ C-pillar and large rear glass area — but uses the same rear doors.

More than 5m long, the Sportswagon isn’t intended primarily as a no-nonsense load carrier; that said, it will still swallow 527 litres with the rear seats in place and 1600 litres with the seats down. And with the 60/40 split rear seat backs lowered, the 1.96m-long load bay is almost completely flat without having to remove the headrests or move the rear seat squabs. What contributes to further maximising its versatility is the facte the sides of the loadbay are ‘completely flat’ and the distinctive roof rails are closely integrated into the roof pressing.

Available with a powered tailgate, the luggage space gets a ‘multi-fold floor’ and U-shape aluminium load rail. And cleverly — something which will prove ideal for the Scottish climate — there’s also an optional ‘sealed wet storage’ compartment which uses the 65mm deep storage space under the main boot floor.

Saab, sensibly, will offer the Sportwagon with the highly regarded Saab XWD 4x4 transmission, plus the same range of turbocharged petrol and diesel engines as the saloon. Expect the Sportwagon to carry in the region of a £1500 premium over the saloon.

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Jim McGill