More Kroner, Sven! Saab's new 9-3 Arc and Vector lead a product blitz aimed at bringing Saab back into profitability.(News)(Product/Service Evaluation)

Byline: MARK VAUGHN

Saab has had a bit of a tough time, lately. And not just recently, lately. Like, the last 10 years lately. It has lost money in eight or nine (depend- ing whom you ask) of the last 10 years. Last year, pretty much everyone agrees, Saab lost half a billion dollars. That's dollars, not kroner, and half a billion of them is a formidable figure even by GM's standards.

But the Swedes aren't just sitting around the sauna beating each other with birch leaves and herring and complaining about it. Saab has big plans. The GM subsidiary put a pile of cash into a new assembly plant in Trollhattan that will see both the 9-3 and 9-5 going down the same line-which Saab says should make for a 20 percent improvement in productivity. Future all-wheel-drive options and a 9-3 crossover SUV are due within the next three years and will also share that assembly line. The 9-3 convertible will reach showrooms Oct. 1. GM recently said it is considering building Saabs in the United States. And there's talk of a smaller model based on the sporty, fun and cheap Subaru WRX. So from a business perspective, Saab is doing all the right things.

But what has Saab done for you lately? The biggest first step to recovery came in October when the new 9-3 went on sale in the States. Now, about the time you read this, there will be two more models of the 9-3 available, both with more horsepower.

The 9-3 Linear is what everyone outside of a marketing department would call the base model 9-3. Saab calls them ``forms.'' Must be the long winters. The 9-3 Linear is the form that came out in October. It has a 175-hp turbocharged four mated to your choice of a five-speed manual or five-speed automatic. The Linear has all the new 9-3 improvements like a wind- slippery, lift-reducing exterior with a Cd of 0.28; a new, more responsive MacPherson strut front and four-link rear ...