Starting next week, Saab Cars North America will officially take over the warranty claims and service responsibility for late-model Saabs from GM dealers in Canada.
The first new Saab model, the 2011 9-5 mid-size sedan, is scheduled to arrive by the end of September.
Saab officially left the Canadian market at the end of 2009, when all its dealer and government importation agreements expired, even though Saab officials in Sweden and Detroit were trying to work out a deal with boutique Dutch car maker Spyker to save the brand, but that was not finalized until Feb. 23.
“So you’re really starting from scratch,” said SCNA president and COO Mike Colleran. “So for Canada, we figured we needed an independent importer.”
Enter International Fleet Sales, the distributor that helped deliver Saab 9-7Xs to Europe and the Middle East. The company will work with 20 Saab dealers now planned for Canada, most of which sold Saab previously as well.
The first new Saabs arriving at these dealers will be the all- new 9-5, which moves up in size and luxury to better compete with its Audi A6 and BMW 5 Series rivals, among others, and will be one of the few cars in this class to offer a turbocharged four-cylinder engine.
The 9-5 is scheduled to arrive in dealers by the end of September, said Colleran, while the revised 9-3 is planned to arrive soon after in October.
The 2011 9-3 will include the sedan, two-door convertible and SportCombi hatchback versions previously available, as well as eventually a new higher-riding 9-3X crossover in the raised wagon mould of the Volvo XC70 or BMW 5 GTs. Next spring, a 9-4X crossover is set to arrive in dealers, one that’s mechanically related to the Cadillac SRX, and the first Saab to be built in Mexico.
“Canadian Saab consumers are fiercely loyal,” said Colleran. “I get letters on a daily basis from Canadians asking ‘when’s Saab coming back?”
The Mitsubishi i-MiEV (Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle).
MITSU EVS TO START CROSS-CANADA TREK
In a brave bit of new millennium voyaging, Mitsubishi Canada is set to launch an electric i-MiEV on a cross-Canada tour, starting in St. John’s, Newfoundland on Tuesday, and scheduled to finish in Vancouver almost a month later, at the EV 2010 conference and trade show in mid-September.
While a cross-Canada drive is no big deal in most cars, this emissions-free trek would likely test the patience of Mother Theresa.
Considering that Mitsu estimates the entire drive will take the i-MiEV about 7,500 km, that means it’ll have to average 268 kilometres a day. The i- MiEV is equipped with a small 16 kWh lithium-ion battery that can only take the tiny four-seater about 120 km on a full charge.
After that, the i-MiEV will have to plug in for a complete recharge for seven hours, if they can find a 220 volt outlet close enough to where it’s parked overnight. Or use a “quick” charger that takes a half hour to get the batteries to 80 per cent full.
If only a regular North American 110V plug is available, a full recharge will take a journey-stretching 14 hours to refill the “tank.”
And remember, the i-MiEV’s official range is listed by Mitsubishi Canada as up to 120 km, so it’s a best-case scenario number. Whether this means that the A/C is off, defrost and wipers permanently off, and your windows are closed to keep up your most aerodynamic shape the entire trip we won’t know, as Mitsu hasn’t announced video, journalists or even bloggers available to chronicle the test.
