SAAB is to launch a new four-door premium saloon, the Saab 9-5, this year. The car will be presented to the international media in Sweden in June and will be on display at the IAA International Motor Show in Frankfurt in September. UK sales are expected to start in October.

The 9-5 will be positioned at the upper end of the Saab range and launched with a new generation of Saab Ecopower turbocharged engines. Saab is yet to announce prices, but there is expected to be some overlap with the 9000 range, currently priced between £19,605 and £31,550. The 9-5 will also add a model at the top of the Saab range and looks set to compete with the likes of the BMW 5-Series.

Production of the 9000CD saloon will cease when the 9-5 is launched, but the 9000CS - which has seen a 30% jump in UK sales over the last two years - will be built until the end of the decade. The 9-5 saloon will be followed by an estate version, which marks Saab's return to the estate market after a gap of around 20 years since the Saab 95 estate of the mid-1970s.