This is more of a marketing drive than a strict publicity thing – but it stands out and gets people talking, so I class it as publicity.
Saab is so confident of the appeal of its 9-3 model, their dealers have got hold of the two nearest competitors’ cars and are inviting you to test drive all 3 together! A very brave move, fantastic.
The fact they’re willing to even do that tells you what kind of confidence they have in their product. This should generate publicity, at least in the motoring press, as I’ve not heard of any car company doing this before.