New Saab crossover to be built in Mexico

Saab is one brand whose roots are strongly fixed in its country of origin, Sweden, but, as the effects of globalization take hold, product planners will soon have us driving Saabs born from Mexico. The upcoming 9-4X crossover will manufactured at GM’s assembly plant in Ramos, Mexico, alongside a similar model planned for Cadillac dubbed the BRX.

Development of the new Saab crossover is being hurried to ensure it arrives at about the same time as other small crossovers and SUVs from rival premium brands. Both the Saab and Cadillac version will be based on portions of GM’s Epsilon II platform and a heavily revised Theta vehicle architecture.

The decision to build the vehicle in Mexico also has to do with boosting the brand's US sales figures. One of Saab’s key challenges will be to ensure the new 9-4X is differentiated enough from its Cadillac counterpart. Saab failed miserably with the 9-2X and the 9-7X, essentially rebadged versions of the Subaru Impreza WRX and Chevrolet TrailBlazer, however it still remains to be seen whether GM has learned its lesson yet.