Have Saab reintroduced hatchback yet?

Is that this one?

Yep. Still looks OK :o)

Cheers,

Colin.

A rarity. And certainly not current.

It's not actually a straight Vectra. The Aura however appears to be.

Graham

Goodo!

When or if it happens, it proves the point that a little movement in this component (points to car) causes a lot of unwanted movement for the rest of it. :-p

As Adrian says. Have a look on t'internet for other links.

Eeyore ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

You're funny, y'know.

Huh? My '03 9-3 SS doesn't look like a hatchback in the least.

And I wasn't looking for a hatchback because I don't need one. I have other "utility" vehicles and even trailers when I need to haul cargo.

Why do you think everyone must be so pragmatic when selecting a vehicle? If that was the case there would never be a 2 door roadster sold, ever.

Nearly all of them. You've never even seen an SUV, have you?

I've seen plenty. There must be half a dozen in my small street alone.

I've almost NEVER seen one used in 'utility mode' though (excepting Range Rovers). Most ppl just seem to use them as huge oversized cars.

Graham

I use mine to haul stuff all the time. Astronomy gear to observing sites, camping gear, furniture, etc...

But I'm also one of the few that probably takes it off road as well.

Well... I don't have enough friends to fill the back seat of the 9-3... :)

You keep telling yourself that...

And that's fine, but surely you didn't buy it *because* it was an SS? If Saab had only offered a hypothetical 9-3 SH would you have rejected it because it was too practical?

I don't have a problem with people who don't need hatchbacks feeling free to take advantage of the vastly increased choice there is once the hatchback requirement is dropped, but that alone wouldn't account for the dearth of "up market" hatchbacks. For that to make sense, there must be loads of really strange people who would choose a saloon over an otherwise identical hatchback.

Nope. Practicality doesn't have to be the only consideration, but if you're going to sacrifice it, you need to be getting something in return, like better acceleration, better handling, easier parking etc. Throwing it away just so you can have the back end look very marginally different is just ludicrous.

Cheers,

Colin.

Colin Stamp ( snipped-for-privacy@stamp.plus.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

There are...

Or, most importantly to the target market - Perceived upmarket image.

Quite difficult to understand these days when cars are so good. In olden days there were differences in performance and quality between common garden cars and the top brass. But now differences are more about style and brand names. Dare I say that a 2008 Ford moundeo can do most upmarket tasks, it's now quiet, fast and comfortable. But it doesn't stand out from the crowd, therein lies the problem...

Hmm - actually I'd say that it *will* stand out from the crowd.

In our office car park we usually have around eighteen cars. There's a Signum, a 9-5, and, err, the rest are 3-Series or A4s. Actually, no, I lie, there's an X-Type too. I don't get to use the office car park any more...

Oh and *all* of the above are silver, black or a variant between the two.

I love to ask people why they picked their silver 320d or black A4 2.0 TDI. "Oh I didn't like the Audi's colour" or "I didn't want a BMW" feature heavily. :)

When, as schoolboy, I noticed a BMW 1500 the first time on the road, I that remember the driver wore a white crash helmet! It was so fast... Wroooom! :-)

Only in a dysfunctional nitwit's excuse for what passes as a 'brain'.

Whatever anyone could see as 'upmarket' in a car with boot/trunk is well beyond my understanding. I think they look ugly, so there ! :-p

Graham

The main problem with Fords IME is tacky interior trim and bits of plastic that fall off from day one. I also happen to find the oval clock somewhat tasteless. They even seem to have decent seats (at least for the driver and front seat passenger) these days.

Damned with faint praise ? Pretty much. Reasonably good value most likely.

Graham

Eeyore ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Well, we are talking about the buyers of new A4, 3-series, C-class, Lexus IS etc against the 93, and A6, 5-series, E-class etc against the 95 - so very probably...

I recall coming back from Felixstowe in 1976 after visting Sweden and Norway. For a while we were behind a Volvo 144 that had been on the ferry. The poor kids in the back had been made to wear crash helmets !

Graham