SWEDISH SOJOURN

’01 Mauer flies the Mercedes nest to become Saab’s head of design. A highlight is 2001’s super-clean 9-X concept. “At Mercedes I was part of the journey, flying in the cabin. Saab gave me the opportunity to fly the plane. It had just been bought by GM and I thought it had the financial resources to succeed. My job was to bring back the Saabness. But GM did not understand how to run a European premium brand.”