L.A. Auto Show: Saab 9X Air BioHybrid Concept

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Saab is one of the world’s most charismatic brands and has the potential to be a huge hit for GM in the U.S. It’s the four-wheeled delivery system for Euro chic, minimalistic style, green consciousness, all that good stuff.

It’s just too bad that the Trollhattan, Sweden-based firm is being starved of development dollars -– or krona –- and is actually on the block due to GM’s current cash worries. It doesn’t help that Saab sales are down 31% for the first 10 months of 2008.

As a Saab fan, I feel the loss most keenly when I look at the Saab 9X Air BioHybrid Concept, the glitzy show-car version of a B-platform Saab 9-1 (Around the size of a BMW 1-series). The BioHybrid powertrain -– that is, a dual-mode gas-electric with flex-fuel capacity –- is already in GM’s pipeline. But the likelihood that the 9-1 will get built is small, and the possibility that it might include this gorgeous, hard-to-build canopy top is slim-to-none. But ooftah, is that cool.

-- Dan Neil