What is a Saab?
Well, the name comes from aircraft maker Svenska Aeroplan AB. Car-making began as a sideline business for the Swedish fighter jet company.
Since 1990, General Motors Corp. has in stages become the 100-per-cent owner of Saab Automobile AB. GM says Saab is its only European luxury brand, but does the Saab's low sales volume make it an albatross like Ford Motor Co.'s Jaguar?
Saab's place in GM is further complicated by the fact that the U.S. car maker recently sold its interest in Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s Subaru division, with which Saab had been jointly designing and manufacturing cars.
So, is Saab doomed to remain a quirky niche car for people in thick knitted sweaters, or can it become a serious performance/luxury rival for brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz or Audi? Who better to ask than Saab's head of design, Simon Padian?
Padian graduated from Coventry University in England with an honours degree in industrial design, transportation, in 1987. He joined Saab in 1989. In 1998, he was assigned to GM's Cadillac design studio in Warren, Mich.
Since 1999, he has been chief designer carline 1, Saab automobile, and lead designer, Saab advanced concept centre.
He's 40 years old, married with one son.
Vaughan: I'm no designer, but when I see a Saab it seems like I'm looking at the Scandinavian school of minimalism on wheels. I'm sure you don't take your design cues from an Ikea bookshelf, but what does inspire you when you design a Saab?
Padian: The biggest inspiration for Saab design is our unique heritage and identity.
Did you know that the first Saab vehicle was designed by aircraft engineers who had never built a car? The result was a vehicle that shared many design characteristics of an airplane, including the overall shape of a wing and a "cockpit" that envelops the driver.
Saab has continued to evolve the design language from our aircraft experience, including integrating elements such as wraparound windscreens, joystick air vents, and cockpit-inspired interiors, as well as the intuitive way information is submitted to the driver, night panels, and heated and vented seats that help keep drivers comfortable and focused on the road.
Add to this a Scandinavian design philosophy that emphasizes simplicity and purity in form, colour and function, and you've got a Saab.
Vaughan: Saab is one of the smallest auto makers in the world (126,000 cars sold last year), and thus by definition is a niche car. So who are you designing for? Is Saab still for university professors from Vermont?
Padian: Actually, Saabs have proven to be particularly popular with journalists!
What's interesting is that we've found that Saab drivers all around the world share a strikingly similar make-up: creative, active, confident, and often entrepreneurial.
These "modern individualists" are the same people designing Saabs, so in essence you can say we're designing vehicles for ourselves -- which makes our jobs very enjoyable.
As for the profs from Vermont, given the personality traits I just described and the climate and recreational activities found in the northeastern United States, I wouldn't be surprised if they still drive Saabs, but they aren't the only ones.
Vaughan: The unkind have said that the Saab 9-3 SportCombi is a facelift of a model (the Saab 9-3) that was dead in the water. Why do you think that the SportCombi can revitalize the line?
Padian: While the SportCombi may share the spirit of its sister cars -- the 9-3 sedan and convertible -- it has its own very unique and distinct personality as a result of a clear, sporty design that gives it its strong visual identity.
In some regards, the SportCombi is the perfect complement for the typical Saab customer, because it combines function, performance and versatility for those with an active lifestyle.
