I prepared this article a few years ago for Inside Saab, the website that I ran while employed by Saab Automobile. This table is based on official production numbers I obtained while working at Saab, in Trollhattan.
——
The Saab 9-3 Viggen is one of those iconic, flawed Saabs that’s loved by everyone who’s ever owned one. The car was absolutely bonkers and quite capable of killing its owner under the right wrong circumstances. But it was so beautifully made inside and out, and it was so out there, that it still draws plenty of oohs and aahs whenever it’s seen.
I’ve owned a Viggen (that’s my old one, above) and over the years I’ve had a lot of email from other Viggen owners asking if I knew how many of them were made and imported into their particular market.
I’m pleased to be able to pass on the following, which should satisfy most of you detail-oriented statisticians. The only thing we haven’t been able to get are the distinct numbers for 3-door and 5-door models.
Note: these are production numbers and there may be some difference between when a car was produced and when it was sold. Your car might have been first sold in 2002, but been produced as a 2001 model and sat on a dealership forecourt for some time.
Abbreviations:
LR = Laser Red
LB = Lightning Blue
CY = Cayenne Red
MCY = Monte Carlo Yellow
SG = Steel Grey
Hard = Hardtop (both 3 and 5 door)
Conv = Convertible
——
UNITED STATES
| Colour | 1999 Hard | 1999 Conv | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv | 2001 Hard | 2001 Conv | 2002 Hard | 2002 Conv |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 2 | 229 | 94 | 151 | 280 | 68 | 106 | |
| LR | 62 | 97 | 18 | 29 | ||||
| LB | 420 | 47 | 40 | |||||
| MCY | 2 | 48 | 18 | |||||
| Silver | 2 | 240 | 97 | 50 | 71 | |||
| SG | 207 | 365 | 95 | 116 |
——
GREAT BRITAIN
| Colour | 1999 Hard | 1999 Conv | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 16 | 10 | 6 | 20 |
| LB | 95 | 50 | 24 | 55 |
| MCY | 11 | 9 | 2 | 9 |
| Silver | 30 | 18 | 7 | 32 |
——
GERMANY
| Colour | 1999 Hard | 1999 Conv | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 1 | 58 | 13 | 35 |
| LB | 51 | 2 | 14 | 9 |
| MCY | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| Silver | 2 | 6 |
——
CANADA
| Colour | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv | 2001 Hard | 2001 Conv |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 26 | 11 | 3 | 1 |
| LR | 1 | |||
| LB | 28 | 9 | ||
| MCY | 6 | |||
| Silver | 28 | 14 | ||
| SG | 8 | 5 |
——
INTERNAL USE
| Colour | 1999 Hard | 1999 Conv | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv | 2001 Hard | 2001 Conv | 2002 Hard | 2002 Conv |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |||
| CR | 5 | 2 | ||||||
| LR | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| LB | 13 | 5 | 13 | 2 | 6 | |||
| MCY | 10 | 3 | 7 | 2 | ||||
| Silver | 7 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | |||
| SG | 5 | 1 | 4 |
——
SWEDEN
| Colour | 1999 Hard | 1999 Conv | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv | 2001 Hard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| LB | 72 | 1 | 7 | 3 | |
| MCY | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Silver | 3 | 1 | 3 |
——
AUSTRALIA
| Colour | 1999 Hard | 1999 Conv | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 23 | 3 | ||
| LB | 18 | 18 | 22 | 6 |
——
SWITZERLAND
| Colour | 1999 Hard | 1999 Conv | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 8 | 6 | 5 | 2 |
| LB | 20 | 2 | 13 | 1 |
| MCY | 2 | 2 | ||
| Silver | 3 | 3 | 3 |
——
FRANCE
| Colour | 1999 Hard | 1999 Conv | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 11 | 5 | 5 | |
| LB | 15 | 1 | 7 | 4 |
| MCY | 1 | |||
| Silver | 9 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
——
INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC (IDS)
| Colour | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv | 2001 Hard | 2001 Conv | 2002 Hard | 2002 Conv |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| LR | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||
| LB | 10 | 9 | ||||
| MCY | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Silver | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | ||
| SG | 6 | 4 |
——
NETHERLANDS
| Colour | 1999 Hard | 1999 Conv | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 8 | 11 | ||
| LB | 1 | 1 | 14 | 7 |
| MCY | 1 | |||
| Silver | 3 | 4 |
——
BELGIUM
| Colour | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv |
|---|---|---|
| Black | 5 | 4 |
| LB | 13 | 3 |
| MCY | 3 | |
| Silver | 2 | 5 |
——
SOUTH AFRICA
| Colour | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv |
|---|---|---|
| Black | 2 | 2 |
| LB | 6 | 5 |
| MCY | 2 | 2 |
| Silver | 4 | 4 |
——
ITALY
Two different importers were used in Italy. I’ve combined both figures below.
| Colour | 1999 Hard | 1999 Conv | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 5 | 5 | 1 | |
| LB | 7 | 2 | 2 | |
| Silver | 11 | 7 | 5 |
——
SPAIN
| Colour | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv |
|---|---|---|
| Black | 8 | 1 |
| LB | 7 | |
| MCY | 2 | 1 |
| Silver | 4 |
——
JAPAN
| Colour | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv |
|---|---|---|
| LB | 16 | |
| MCY | 5 | |
| Silver | 1 |
——
NORWAY
| Colour | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv |
|---|---|---|
| Black | 3 | 5 |
| LB | 9 | 1 |
| MCY | 1 |
——
HUNGARY
| Colour | 1999 Hard | 1999 Conv | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 1 | |||
| LB | 7 | |||
| MCY | 1 | 2 | ||
| Silver | 1 |
——
FINLAND
| Colour | 1999 Hard | 2000 Hard |
|---|---|---|
| LB | 3 | 1 |
| MCY | 2 |
——
GREECE
| Colour | 2000 Hard | 2000 Conv |
|---|---|---|
| Black | 1 | |
| Silver | 2 | 1 |
——
AUSTRIA
| Colour | 1999 Hard | 2000 Hard |
|---|---|---|
| LB | 2 | 1 |
——
I will do the rest of them without the use of tables as they’re all reasonably simple…..
——
IRELAND
Viggen produced only for MY2000 and only in hardtop form.
Black – 1
Lightning Blue – 4
Silver – 1
——
TURKEY
Viggen produced only for MY2000 and only in hardtop form.
Lightning Blue – 3
——
PORTUGAL
Viggen produced only for MY2000 and only in hardtop form.
Black – 1
Lightning Blue – 1
Silver – 1
——
RUSSIA
Viggen produced only in hardtop form. Figures are for three different importers.
1999 – Lightning Blue – 1
2000 – Silver – 1
2000 – Lightning Blue – 2
——
POLAND
Viggen produced only for MY2000 in hardtop form
Black – 1
Lightning Blue – 1
——
CZECH REPUBLIC
Viggen produced only for MY2000 in hardtop form.
Lightning Blue – 1
——
HONG KONG
Viggen produced only for MY 2000
Lightning Blue Hardtop – 1
Lightning Blue Convertible – 1
——
SAAB OPEL FINANCE
Viggen produced only for MY2000 in hardtop form.
Black – 1
——
LITHUANIA
Viggen produced only for MY2000
Lightning Blue Hardtop – 1
Lightning Blue Convertible – 1
I am glad you restored this information and provided it here. I love to catalog SAAB history — it really helps to put some things into perspective —Thanks!
very useful info, currently one 5 door black viggen on carsales with 284,000 k’s and still asking nearly $10k…
The definitive source! Well done, sir,
This list demonstrates something about Saab that I’ve always loved. Saab was never afraid to create the right car even though it may sell in small quantities. Of course, that costs a lot of money, and certainly that took a toll on their longevity. I miss Saab.
Wow, so your Viggen was one of the three ever imported to Australia? Now that is a car ownership story to treasure just for the rarity.
Australia/Austria
There is a difference and it’s not strudel 😉
Would love to grab one of these and fit it with the VRC. Hear it makes worlds of difference, which is good, as my 9-3 SE tried to kill me enough as it was.
There are around 200 left on the roads in the UK – http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?q=viggen
The Red Viggen is rarer than I thought because I understood that there were only 112 Red
2-doors in the USA in 2001. Mine stood on the lot for 10 months before I bought it for the price of an SE. I never regretted having all my factory wheels Black-Powder-Coated after a generous BMW owner in Chicago gave 4 of them away, first come, first served! My son picked them up for me and I even have a full sized one in the trunk instead of the donut!
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1288/592208241_e4a0dfca2c.jpg
Neat! Mine is one of only 5 2001’s in Canada
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/21239280/My%20Family%20of%20Saabs.jpg
Viggen is such a strong and appropriate name, I really hope it is resurrected by NEVS for a coupe EV.
Too bad there weren’t any MCY or steel grey Vigs sent down under in place of a few black cars.
Very interesting. Compared to all other markets, the numbers for the USA are quite striking. Makes it difficult to understand why (according to Tim on SU) NEVS has doubts about whether it will re-enter the US market.
Thanks as I wanted the Australian deliveries…
Bit off topic, but do you have idea of production volume of NG9-5?
All the Viggens are built at Valmet Automotive factory, Finland. Side by side with Porsche Boxter.
In 2002 a steel gray Viggen and a lapis blue Boxster rolled out of Valmet, possibly together. Following different paths they both ended up together again in my driveway. Touching…snif..
Where are the tables? I see only text versions…
I have this table in Excel format!!
Where can i find interior combination numbers; I own a RHD Black 1999 Convertible Viggen with Ochre inserts and a 1999 RHD Black 1999 Coupe Viggen , but would love to know how many ochre insert there are globally and RHD.
Also own a LB RHD 2000 Viggen Convertible with blue inserts.
Bitten by the Saab Viggen bug real bad 🙂
Will you please email me this tables gsm(at)saabnet.ru
Hey mate,
I was wondering if you could please send me a link to the australian numbers, I’m only seeing text and nothing else sadly…
That would be very much appreciated
Regards
Dave
helps if i leave my email address haha
davidzalitis@hotmail.com
Thanks again I’m wanting to sell my Viggen and just wanted to know how many are out there….
Black Coupe also has ochre inserts!
“The car was absolutely bonkers and quite capable of killing its owner under the right wrong circumstances.”
Given that I owned a 1963 Corvair prior to buying my Viggen, I should probably question what is behind this automotive death wish I seem to have.
A friend of mine owns a lightning blue Viggen vert with Abbott rescue kit and a slip differential. Works great and the car is quite well behavin’. I’ve driven it and I know what a base lpt 9-3 vert is doing because I own one myself. So easy to compare. I always had a soft spot for Viggens.