BAIC’s Saab 9-5 based cars to see production at years end

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Beijing Auto Industry Corp (BAIC) bought the rights to the last generation Saab 9-3 and Saab 9-5 in late 2009 in a deal that was worth some 193 million USD, however this amount of money was clearly not enough to assist Saab in its hour of need. Although Saab is currently circling the plug hole Saab’s may live on in China under the management of BAIC, Beijing Auto are planning to put the first of the Saab’s into production later this year in November. BAIC are planning to launch four Saab based models over the next two years which are the C50, C60, C70 and C80.

The C70 and C80 will ride on the last generation Saab 9-5 platform and will be powered by 2.0T and 2.3T engines, these cars are aimed squarely at Buick’s Regal and Lacrosse models. The C50′s platform has not yet been determined, but the C60 will ride on the Saab 9-3 platform, the C60 will be aimed at the Hyundai Elantra and the C50 aimed at the Hyundai Verna which shows that BAIC are not aiming overly high for the C50/60.

 

BAIC have invested 4 billion RMB into a new high end production plant based in Beijing’s Shunyi district which should come online later this year.