Have Saab reintroduced hatchback yet?

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

I need to get a towbar on the c900, and soon... Gotta take the 4x4 2cv to North Yorks next month.

Don't be absurd. It's highly relevant.

Because it's a fact ?

Graham

Please name a hatchback with a thin cloth-like material 'parcel shelf'.

I see you are unable to do so.

Graham

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

What were the sales numbers, broken down by body and year?

Since when is 13 closer to 20 than 10 ? Introduced 13 years ago in 1994.

Graham

Just try moving say a fridge in one ! Or some self-assembly furniture.

The hatchback is vastly more versatile.

Graham

Technically you are both wrong. The NG 900 was introduced as a '94 model year car in 1993. That was *14* years ago. (still closer to 10)

Fred W (malt snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

But since the disputed 20/10yr ago date was being given as when the UK exec car market started to move massively away from hatches and "mass brands", it's more than slightly irrelevant WHEN the NG900 was released... apart from to identify when it was *BEFORE*.

And since we're all agreed that we're talking about before 1993, we're looking at 15 years bare minimum - hence nearer 20 than 10.

Are you saying you would move a refridgerator in a hatchback car? Your UK fridges must be a bit smaller than ours over here...

As to the self assembly furniture, there are many *sedans* with folding rear seats that accomodate long loads such as this, FWIW.

The reason the hatchback fell out of favor in the US is pretty simple, really. The auto companies wanted to sell mini-vans and SUVs. They marketed the superior versatility of these more expensive vehicles and quietly removed the more economical hatches from their line-ups.

Ummm. You are aware that the NG900 was still a hatchback right?

I don't know where one would get those. As for the UK simple observation (using your eyes) shows there are far more CSs than CDs. CDs are a real rarity. You might see one a month. Another poster in this thread has made the same comment as regards the USA.

Graham

Fred W (malt snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

But not as regards Saab. Who still thought a hatchback was the way to go for at least another 5 years with the 9000. Saab were offering hatchbacks in both the

Graham

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

Ah, so it isn't a _fact_, it's a supposition. A guess.

Shame we're a minimum of a decade down the line from the 9k's demise, beyond the average life expectancy of an average new car, and therefore the survival rates have little to do with original new sales.

Y'know, since this thread's started, I've actively been keeping an eye out for 9ks.

I've seen one. Three guesses which shape?

I've moved a Bosch fridge freezer in my 9000. The hatch didn't close completely though IIRC.

Yeah but .... I doubt most SUVs or 'people carriers' as we call them here actually work as well in that respect.

Graham

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

Why do you have this strange notion that Saab sell into a market of their very own, isolated from all other market pressures and trends?

Indeed they were. BUT... When the hatch or saloon 9k was replaced with the

If hatches were such a sales success, why would they shoot themselves in the foot so solidly?

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

An SUV isn't a people carrier. A mini-van is a people carrier. An SUV is a 4x4.

I think it is much more demand driven. Never quite understood the desire for SUVs. But these cars started off in the US, where gas is cheap, and americans always like BIG cars. Then these cars was seen on US movies and TV sitcoms, so people wanted them over here.

The hatchback segment is now covered by the Golf/Astra class of cars, these cars have grown enormously in size, and you can get MPV variants if you really need the space. In fact it feels like my 9000, which was formerly a big car, has shrunk in size when seen against the current generation hatchback class. In particular the Peugeot 307, and the 308 is even bigger!

That leaves us with the class of executive saloons. Hence the Saab saloon cars, clearly marketed as bmw alternatives.

johannes ( snipped-for-privacy@size-85635457321546-fitter.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Ummm, what about the Range-Rover...?