Sweden's Saab offers to fix 100,000 vehicles with oil problem

STOCKHOLM, Jan 23 (AFP) - General Motor's Swedish subsidiary Saab acknowledged Sunday that some of its late model 9-5 and earlier 9-3 automobiles had a engine design fault that could lead to loss of oil quality and damage to turbo-charged engines.
The company said it would pay for the repairs, which are not covered by insurance.
Most of the affected vehicles were circulating in Sweden, although some had been exported, said a Saab spokesman. He was unable to estimate how many cars were involved, but the daily Dagens Nyeter said up to 100,000 vehicles might have to be recalled.
The Saab cars are produced at Trollhaettan in southwestern Sweden, which is competing with a plant at Ruesselsheim near Frankfurt to produce a future range of mid-sized GM cars.

01/23/2005 19:40 GMT - AFP