The next generation of the Saab’s 9-5 model will be built at the GM plant in Ruesselsheim, Germany, from 2008 an Opel executive told Reuters this week.

The source said current versions of the Saab 9-3 and 9-5 will continue to be built in Trollhattan, Sweden until then.

In March, the Ruesselsheim plant won the coveted job of making the next generation of GM's midsize cars in Europe, including the successors to the Opel Vectra and Saab 9-3.

The new Saab 9-7X, the brand's first SUV, will be built in Moraine, Ohio. The Saab 9-2X wagon is built in Japan, and the Saab 9-6X crossover, a knockoff of the Subaru B9 Tribeca due out in 2006, is expected to be built in Indiana.

Saab chairman Carl-Peter Forster, who is also president of GM Europe, reportedly said the Trollhattan plant might build a high-end Opel car GM has on the drawing board in Germany.