VW's Seat brand will launch the Exeo

Seat's new upper-medium car will be called the Exeo.

Seat, Volkswagen's Spanish brand, will launch sales of the Exeo early next year. It will be a competitor to the Ford Mondeo, Renault Laguna and Peugeot 407.

Based on an Audi A4 platform, the Exeo will be built in Seat's factory in Martorell, near Barcelona, Spain.

The Exeo will have sedan and station wagon versions
Seat says it took the name Exeo from the Latin word exire, which means to go beyond or to go further in English.

Seat said the Exeo will not replace its Toledo model.

Saab 9-3 To Be Built In Sweden

Production of the Saab 9-3 will remain in Sweden, a General Motors Europe spokesman said today.

Media reports had suggested that production of the next-generation 9-3 would move to GM Europe's Opel plant in Ruesselsheim, near Frankfurt, Germany, from Saab's Trollhattan, Sweden, factory.

To compensate for not getting the 9-3, GM Europe will add production of the Saab 9-5 and a compact car at Ruesselsheim.

"It is good news that Ruesselsheim will get an extra model, a third shift and that the 9-3 production will remain in Saab's home country," said GM Europe spokesman Joerg Schrott.

GM Europe has not named the compact car that will be built in Ruesselsheim, but company sources say it will be the Opel Astra lower-medium car.
Currently, Ruesselsheim builds the Opel Vectra and Signum. It will build the Insignia, the Vectra successor, later this year.