ICONOCLAST NO MORE; That weird hippie uncle at the reunion? That was Saab. Now it has its act together and is taking it on the road. For proof, look at the new Saab 9-3.

Byline: DUTCH MANDEL

Remember this number: 2158. Saab engineers, designers and marketing people figure that's the number of changes made to its bread-and-butter 9-3 model. Actually, the number is 2157, but it was easy to identify another change. After a day behind the wheel, we find the Saab 9-3 is finally a car worthy of serious consideration.

That has not been the case before. As Saab relished its individuality-hell, let's call a herring a herring: its quirkiness-the preferred transport of global iconoclasts has never stood alongside other European contenders. Now it can sit at the big table with everyone else.

Don't scoff at individuality as Saab's draw and drawback. Last year, the company sold just 35,000 cars in the United States. By comparison, through June, Toyota has averaged a little more than 36,000 sales every five days. Worldwide, Saab moved 133,000 cars in 2006. By its own marketing matrix measurements (say that three times fast in Swedish), it belongs to a group of cars best identified as the "upper-liberal segment''; think transport for Janeane Garofalo or Ed Begley Jr. By Saab's definition, Cadillac is in the "upper-conservative segment.'' Saab's global customers are well-educated, well-informed professionals with annual income of $155,000. They live in modern households, and their belief systems accept fair and equal rights; they are active, authentic, often described as original and honest. They respect the environment and are nonconformist. Saab believes 12 to 15 percent of the car- buying public is iconoclastic.

If the potential market is that large, Saab is still not selling enough cars. And that has had to do with the product and the message. In its 60 years, Saab has undergone profound personality changes. It cut its teeth in motorsports, proving its mettle on the world-rally circuit. But in 1981, there was a nuclear winter of sorts, and Saab's motorsports department, as famous Saab racer Erik Carlsson did, went on its roof and closed for business.

Saab pursued a different tack with small-displacement turbo-engine development that gave its cars and its company performance with a purpose and a cause: developing small engines to produce more power using smaller amounts of natural resources. At least, that's how the changes were justified in the boardroom of public opinion.

That approach has taken nearly 30 years to take root, but the new 9-3 shows the roots are firm.