By Mary Beth Thompson
Here’s a bit of good news for you Saab fanatics!
You may remember (or have blocked from your memory) that Saab unfortunately had to file for bankruptcy after a long and dramatic process which had multiple companies line up to purchase the troubled brand.
We thought that was it for Saab, even when National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) picked up the tab and eventually bought Saabs’ assets. But it appears NEVS wants to get things rolling again, specifically, they want to continue to roll Saabs off the line.
NEVS said the Saab Trollhattan plant is ready to start churning out 9-3 models and has hired 300 staff to make sure not only that the job gets done, but that it gets done in quick order; they hope to resume production by the end of the year.
NEVS says the 9-3 will be very similar to the 9-3 that was sold before the bankruptcy filing, using the same general design (a facelift is expected) and platform. However, they will invest in removing the components sourced by GM which comprised about 20% of modern day Saabs.
The electric 9-3 is due to be launched next year in Europe and China, but the really exciting news is that NEVS is considering selling the new 9-3 in North America as well.
What do you think about Saab’s return to the automotive world?