The first Saab 9-5NG production report, released!

Arguably one of the most beautiful Saab models ever made, the Saab 9-5 “New Generation” was introduced at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September 2009 and during the two eventful years that followed, a total of 11,320 production 9-5s rolled off the assembly lines in Trollhättan, Sweden.
The interest for the 9-5NG has been growing steadily since and the cars are now rapidly becoming collector’s items. With the increasing popularity, the demand for detailed production data has also grown, but the demise of Saab Automobile AB unfortunately made access to reliable information quite difficult.

Created by Henrik Zaar

Saab enthusiast (and 9-5NG owner) Henrik Zaar began his quest for production data in April 2016. He quickly found out that this was easier said than done but countless meetings, phone and Skype calls and emails later, the result is finally here!

Behind the Saab curtains

The report offers many details. Some are rather straightforward like the number of cars produced by model year, but some other details really provide a “look behind the Saab Automobile curtains”… Did you know for example that the combination TTiD, XWD and an automatic gearbox was actually built? This configuration never made it to the price list, however. The same applies to the “super Diesel” engine. One 9-5NG was built with this experimental 2.9 litre V6 245 hp powertrain. The project was cancelled, but a “TiD6” emblem can still be bought online, however…

Another little known fact is that Saab was in fact already working on the next model year update from MY12. Code named “MY12,25” was supposed to be the standard from January 2012 and among the planned feature upgrades were new gearboxes and updated engines, including a low-power 136 hp TiD. Just one car was built with this new engine, but another nine based on the “MY12,25” specifications.

Another factoid from the report is that Saab targeted no less than 41 different markets with the 9-5NG, yet the “rest of world” category only accounted for 4% of the produced volume, in sharp contrast to the 65% for the European market and 31% for North America.

Just 13 production SportCombis!

The highly anticipated 9-5NG SportCombi was due to be launched during the autumn of 2011, as part of the model year 2012 upgrade for the 9-5NG series. There were 20 SportCombis assembled in the pre-production workshop “Frickeboa” and another 13 left the regular production line. Does that mean that the total number of SportCombis produced adds up to just 33? No, as we know that a limited number of test cars were made in the GM facilities in Rüsselsheim, Germany also, raising the figure slightly. An overview from the known remaining SportCombis can be found in our Directory.

So, where can I get the report?

A PDF copy of the Saab 9-5NG Production Report can be obtained from our download page. Please note that this is only the initial version and several future updates are planned already, so be sure to check back here often!