Wasn't the 9-3 Hatchback discontinued in 2001?? What the heck are they talk= ing about a 2002, 2003 9-3 Hatchback?
From Saab's Press Release:
Saab 9-5, 9-3 Hatchback Rated as "Safest Cars" in Swedish Road Accident Stu= dy
Detroit, MI ___ The Saab 9-5 and Saab 9-3 hatchback are rated as the safest= cars in Sweden following the latest road accident study conducted by Folks= am, the country's leading insurance company.
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The Folksam report, ___How Safe is Your Car?___, updated every two years, f= eatures findings based on an assessment of personal injuries suffered in re= al-life accidents on Swedish roads. In winning Folksam's safest car award, = the Saab 9-5 and 9-3 hatchback were honored for scoring the lowest injury r= isk rating of 138 different car models in the study.
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The findings are based on an analysis of 94,100 car-to-car road accidents i= n Sweden since 1994 involving injuries to 35,400 occupants. An injury risk= measurement is produced for each car model on which there is sufficient da= ta available, including a wide variety of German, Japanese and other Swedis= h car brands.
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Apart from winning Folksam's overall award, the 1998-2005 Saab 9-5 and 1998=
-2003 Saab 9-3 hatchback each topped their own respective categories, for l= arge and medium -sized cars. The Saab 9-5 also won Folksam___s safest car = award two years ago.
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Both models have been developed according to Saab's ___Real-Life Safety___ = philosophy, which involves computer simulations and crash testing designed = to replicate what happens in real collisions on real roads. These are deriv= ed from detailed analysis of actual accidents involving Saab cars on Swedis= h roads. The Saab database now covers more than 6,100 real-world collisions.
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"This latest Folksam report is further independent confirmation of the effe= ctiveness of our long-term work with car safety," emphasized Per Lenhoff, m= anager of Crash Safety Development at Saab Automobile.
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Saab cars are also highly rated in studies and tests carried out in the Uni= ted States by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the Hig= hway Loss Data Institute (HLDI). Based on top results in separate frontal a= nd side impact crash tests, the 2004 Saab 9___3 Sport Sedan earned a ___Dou= ble Best Pick___ designation from IIHS, the first passenger car to achieve = this distinction. In a 2004 HLDI study covering model years 2001-2003, the = Saab 9-5 sedan topped the luxury midsize category for relative frequency of= injury insurance claims.
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As a further affirmation of Saab___s safety achievements, the 2003 Saab 9-3= Sport Sedan, 2004 9-3 Convertible and 2003 Saab 9-5 have each earned five = stars, the highest rating possible, in the European New Car Assessment Prog= ram___s (EuroNCAP) frontal and side-impact crash tests. EuroNCAP, Europe___= s leading crash-test agency, conducts tests on European model variants usin= g three types of collisions: a frontal offset barrier impact and two differ= ent kinds of side impacts. The test results are then evaluated according to= a large number of parameters relating to driver and passenger safety.
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Lenhoff notes that a vehicle's safety performance is the product of many fa= ctors, including driver and occupant behavior, personal judgment and other = variables. The design of the car also influences its real-life safety integ= rity. ___Real-Life Safety___ means that Saab___s goal is to develop cars th= at provide safety in real-world crashes
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Saab is a division of General Motors Corp. Saab Cars USA is the distributor= of Saab 9-2X, 9-3 and 9-5 vehicles for Saab Automobile AB, Sweden. For mor= e information, please visit