> it reminded me of something I heard about car platforms, years ago. Back in 2002, GM introduced a pair of cars in the European market both based on the same p

> it reminded me of something I heard about car platforms, years ago. Back in 2002, GM introduced a pair of cars in the European market both based on the same platform: the Vauxhall Vectra and the Saab 9-3. Your comment actually reminded me of an old Top Gear episode [1][2] where they described how Saab were instructed by GM to change only the body and the badges of a Vauxhall Cavalier when producing the Saab 900, but they ignored them and modified so much that the two cars only shared 1/3rd of the parts [2, 03:59]. The same thing happened again with the Vauxhall Vectra and the Saab 9-3, but to an even greater extent. It certainly sounds like Saab didn't want to be associated with GM or Vauxhall or use any of their inferior technology or parts. [1] http://www.topgear.com/videos/jeremy-clarkson/tribute-saab-part-12-series-18-episode-5 http://www.topgear.com/videos/jeremy-clarkson/tribute-saab-p... [2] http://www.topgear.com/videos/jeremy-clarkson/tribute-saab-part-22-series-18-episode-5 http://www.topgear.com/videos/jeremy-clarkson/tribute-saab-p...