Comment 2 for bug 570527

Confirmed on Windows XP, Inkscape bzr rev. 9315.

Actually, Inkscape can import it, but since the .ai format version used by your Matlab version is 8 (or bellow), you need to select a specific import filter in the open/import dialog format list. By default, Inkscape tries to open your file with a 9 (or above) AI filter, and thus fails.