By Gunnar Heinrich

A recent BBC story that covered the Frankfurt Auto Show reported that from an interview with Saab executives the news service learned that GM's Swedish subsidiary is intending to scale back its operations and sales targets to meet or exceed 150,000 units sold per year.

The previous target was 250,000 units worldwide.

According to the report, Saab's total worldwide sales volume slumped to just 133,000 cars last year; well below its German rivals and even fellow Swedish carmaker Volvo which sold more than 600,000 units.

As reported by ward's Automotive Group, Saab sold just 30,560 cars to Americans last year; down from the previous year by more than 5,000 units.

"Going forward, Saab should instead offer models that are distinct from its much larger rivals, and the carmaker will no longer strive to become a 'better BMW than BMW'," Saab CEO Jan-Ake Jonsson said.

The BBC pinned it when it reported that part of the difficulty Saab continues to face is that by accommodating the lower-cost structure, the carmaker is forced to share parts with other GM labels which only undermines the uniqueness of the marque's identity.

The solution may come from Saab's greener side.

"Saab has made a name for itself in the world of biofuels, essentially because its Biopower models are more powerful when they run on E85 - a mixture of 85% ethanol made from plants and 15% petrol - then when they run on conventional petrol," the report stated.

Apparently, so adept are (Saab's signature) turbos at accepting E85, that it actually boosts power by as much as 25 to 30 horsepower. In the future, this may indicate that Saab could make much smaller, more fuel efficient engines that would be capable of matching the performance of competitors with bigger, thirstier engines.

Maybe we'll be able to think of Saab as the Swedish Lotus.

[Sources: Ward's, BBC]