IMPORTANT NEWS: National Electric Vehicle Sweden has agreed to buy the assets of Saab Automobile and the sale is expected to be finalized during the summer.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Saab's turbo engine design lives on in China

As many of you know, back in 2009 Saab sold the intellectual property of the previous Saab 9-5, the pre-2006 Saab 9-3 and the Saab turbo engine to Chinese BAIC. This was Saab's way of raising funds back then. Last month we got to see a few of the cars (BAIC C60F and BAIC T60 Sport Phantom) that BIAC plans to manufacture on the basis of the old Saab technology.

Now we've learned from People's Daily Online that the first car based on Saab technology to hit the market will be the BAIC C70G, which will come by the end of the year. This car will be based on the Saab 9-5. And 80 percent of its parts are actually said to come from suppliers for the original Saab car.

The technology from Saab will be used for a compact car, a mid-sized coupe, mid- and high-end sedans and a full-sized flagship sedan. The models will have turbocharged engines based on Saab technology. According to BAIC, they will be "industry leading" and have a power that range from 130 to 190 kW and torque from 240 to 350 Nm.