Saab Awards 9-4x to Winner of Best of The Road® Rally

ROYAL OAK, Mich., July 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Saab automobiles traveled across the U.S. in the Rand McNally "Best of the Road"® rally presented with media partner, USA TODAY.  Five two-person teams spent three weeks experiencing the best small towns in the United States in a mix of Saab vehicles as the final phase of Rand McNally's search to find "Best of the Road"® (www.bestoftheroad.com) and the best small towns in the United States along with media partner, USA TODAY.  The winning team was awarded a Saab 9-4X crossover at the finale event in California on July 15.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110720/DE38569 )

Jason and Nikki Wynn of Dallas, Texas were elated upon being selected to participate as one of five teams in the 30 city tour, but their excitement escalated when hearing they had won the rally and were being awarded a Saab 9-4X crossover.  "We have always been longtime fans of Saab and feel honored and fortunate to have been given such a cool award," said Jason Wynn.

The teams were judged on the number of towns visited along their route, the quality and originality of their journal and the quality of their category descriptions.

"The 9-4X is the perfect vehicle for the Wynns to continue their traveling adventures," said Tim Colbeck, President and COO, Saab Cars North America.  "We know their Saab will continue to provide them the 'best of the road' in safety, performance and thoughtful design."

Driving a unique route from metro New York to Los Angeles in a mix of Saab 9-3s, 9-5s and the new 9-4X crossover, each of the teams visited towns which were selected online in one of the five "best" categories: most fun, most patriotic, most beautiful, friendliest and best for food.

Along the way from coast to coast, each team posted an online travel journal, combining blogs, Facebook posts, Twitter feeds, texts and videos, with the best journal earning a grand prize of a new Saab 9-4X crossover and $10,000.

Towns were nominated at the Best of the Road Web site and a panel of travel experts along with public reviews and comments narrowed the selections down to six in each category, including: Baker City, OR; Franklin, TN; Walla Walla, WA; Rapid City, SD; Park City, UT, and Lafayette, LA.

The 10 "rallyists" earned their way into the Saabs by submitting a one-minute video on why they deserved to participate. They teams were judged on the number of towns visited along their route, the quality and originality of their journal and the quality of their category descriptions.

About Saab Cars Saab, or Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (Swedish Aircraft Company), was founded in 1937 as an aircraft manufacturer and revealed its first prototype passenger car 10 years later after the formation of the Saab Car Division. In 1990, Saab Automobile AB was created as a separate company, jointly owned by the Saab Scania Group and General Motors, and became a wholly-owned GM subsidiary in 2000. In February 2010, Spyker Cars N.V. of the Netherlands, acquired the company from GM as an independently-run business.

Saab cars reflect the brand's unique Scandinavian design ethic, which is fused with its aircraft engineering heritage. The company is a global premium car maker with a distinguished history of innovation. It is recognized for its pioneering role in turbocharging, as well as occupant safety and the introduction of flex-fuel technology through Saab BioPower. Saab Automobile AB currently employs approximately 3,800 staff in Sweden, where it operates world-class production and technical development facilities at its headquarters in Trollhattan, 70 km north of Gothenburg. http://media.saab.com

SOURCE Saab Cars North America