Saab's Dynamic Aero 9-3 SportCombi

Sporty and well-priced, the Saab 9-3 SportCombi is a great alternative to German wagons. So why isn't it selling better?

by Thane Peterson

Editor's Rating:

The Good: Handling, distinctive looks, relatively low price

The Bad: Front-wheel drive only, no third-row seating

The Bottom Line: A sporty, European-style wagon at a lower price than the German competition

Reader Reviews

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Up Front

The other day I was whipping along the autoroute in eastern France and couldn't help noticing how many cars on the road are almost exactly like the ones in the U.S.—Volkswagen Passats and Golfs, Honda CR-Vs, BMW X3s and X5s (see BusinessWeek.com, 2/6/07, "BMW's Exceptional X5"), and Ford's (F) Volvo XC90s (see BusinessWeek.com, 1/10/07, "Volvo's Exceptional XC90"). At one point I even saw a guy taking his family on spring break vacation in a gigantic white 1960s-era Oldsmobile station wagon. One model you see fairly often in Europe but rarely in the U.S. is the Saab 9-3, which comes as a sedan, a convertible, or the new SportCombi (a station-wagon-like crossover vehicle).

Now that Saab is owned by General Motors (GM), a lot of Americans suspect Saabs are little more than glorified Chevys. But the 9-3 is actually a global product with a genuinely European look and feel. The 9-3 SportCombi I recently test-drove (in the U.S. before I left for Europe) only had 1% U.S. and Canadian parts. Half its content was from Germany and Sweden, and final assembly is done in Trollhattan, Sweden. The car's smooth-running, turbocharged engine was made in Australia.

And a manual transmission is standard. You have to pay $1,350 to get an automatic transmission—a definite indication that Saab isn't totally abandoning its European roots and pandering to middle-of-the-road American tastes. All of which leads me to my basic point: The 9-3 SportCombi is much better than its marginal U.S. sales would indicate. If you have a family but also want a sporty, fast-moving vehicle in your driveway, this is a good compromise. It looks a little like a stylish Subaru, and handles a lot like a well-made European car. Saab's U.S. sales last were flat at 24,133 units, but boomed in Europe, jumping 11.1% in 2006 (on top of a 11% increase in 2005), to nearly 89,000 units.

In fact, Europe propelled Saab to record global sales last year. The 9-3 sedan is Saab's most important product, but a big driver of growth was the new 9-3 SportCombi, which comes in two versions: the basic 2.0T with a four-cylinder, 210-horsepower, 2.0 liter engine, and the much sportier Aero, which is powered by a 2.8 liter, turbocharged inline-six. The 2.0T starts at $28,465, and the Aero at $34,120. Naturally, I chose to test-drive the sporty Aero.

The Aero has sports-tuned suspension, sport seats, 17-inch wheels, and, compared to the 2.0T, a better stereo and more interior chrome. Standard equipment on both models includes stability control, full leather seats, and a power driver seat.

You can load up the 2.0T with a fair number of options, but you're basically just upgrading it to the level of the Aero, minus the big engine. The Aero has relatively few options. A navigation system goes for $2,145, OnStar telematics for $695, and a touring package that includes an auto-dimming mirror, rain-sensing wipers, rear parking assist, and driver seat memory for $1,195. The Aero SportCombi gets decent mileage on the highway, but not in stop-and-go driving. With a stick shift, it's rated at 18 miles per gallon in the city and 28 mpg on the highway (the 2.0T with an automatic does best—it's rated at 22/30 mpg). In 447 miles of largely highway, I got 20.5 mpg with my Aero SportCombi. Premium gas is recommended.

Behind the Wheel

The SportCombi has rakish exterior styling. The rear window slopes at a sharp angle like a windshield, and the roofline swoops, curving down slightly toward the rear. The five-spoke alloy wheels and two big, chromed exhaust pipes on the Aero hint at the car's speed.

Slide behind the wheel, and the Aero SportCombi's performance matches its looks. My test car had a stick shift, but if you pay up for the automatic, you can also get paddle shifters that add to the driving fun. The Aero is quite quick: I got 0-to-60 times of 7.0 to 7.4 seconds.