Saab is focusing on its products after losing the argument with owner General Motors about whether future models must be built in Sweden.
General Motors Europe said this month that the next-generation Saab 9-3 will be built in 2008 at the Opel plant in Ruesselsheim, Germany. The plant also will build the Opel Vectra, and the cars will share GM's Epsilon architecture.
Saab's main plant in Trollhattan, Sweden, had bid unsuccessfully against Ruesselsheim for the program. GM Europe said Trollhattan will build specialty models, including the new Cadillac BLS derived from the current 9-3.
Building the next 9-3 in Germany is a continuation of GM's policy of globally interchangeable plants and products. Two U.S.-only Saabs - the 9-2X based on the Subaru Impreza WRX and the 9-7X SUV based on the Chevrolet TrailBlazer - already are built outside Sweden. The 9-2X is built by Subaru in Japan; the 9-7X is built in Moraine, Ohio.