October proved to be yet another month of increased sales for Saab Cars USA. New-car sales tallied in at 3,349 vehicles, up 82 percent over 1,844 units last year. This brought year-to-date sales to 40,808, a 26 percent increase over 2002. The Swedish manufacturer surpassed 40,000 units in the U.S. on the morning of Oct. 31 -- the first time Saab has reached this number in 16 years. "The sales network is maintaining the strong momentum -- as we have asked them to," said Ed Peper, vice president of sales for Saab Cars USA. Saab's MVP for 2003 has been the 9-3 Sport Sedan. This all-new product went on sale in mid-October 2002. At that time, Saab executives forecast that the Sport Sedan would double the sales volume of its predecessor, the 9-3 hatchback and coupe models. And that is exactly what it has done. Comparing model year 2002 9-3 hardtops with model year 2003 9-3 Sport Sedans, here's how the numbers fall out: 10,884 9-3 hardtops versus 24,077 9-3 Sport Sedans, a 121 percent increase. "Our 9-3 Sport Sedan is the fuel behind the Saab Cars USA sales this year," said Debra Kelly-Ennis, president of Saab Cars USA. "The popularity of our new Sport Sedan positively affects sales of other models as well. Consumers are visiting our showrooms in higher volumes, and seeing more Saabs on the road next to them." The Saab Certified Pre-owned program continued its positive contribution to the overall sales performance. October sales reached 878 vehicles, a 109 percent increase over last year. Year-to-date Saab CPO sales are at 8,059 vehicles, an 89 percent improvement over 2002. Saab Cars USA, Inc. is the importer of Saab 9-5 and 9-3 automobiles for Saab Automobile AB and is headquartered in Norcross, Ga., near Atlanta. For more information, see www.saabusa.com.