Saab is back

Two and a half years after Saab shut down production, a new sedan rolled off its assembly lines in Sweden yesterday. National Electric Vehicle Sweden, the Hong Kong-based company which bought the brand out of bankruptcy in September last year, presented its new 9-3 Aero Sedan as the first in a new series it will produce. The first 200 cars will be delivered in the spring and cost 279,000 kronor (£26,000). Next year will also see a 9-3 wagon, followed by convertible and electric models.

Saab ceased production in April 2011, after six decades of building cars, and filed as its earlier Dutch owner, Spyker Cars, struggled with financing. It filed for bankruptcy in December the same year, dealing a huge blow to the town of Trollhattan in south-west Sweden and its 3,000 employees. NEVS now employs around 600 people, including many former Saab employees, and acting President Mattias Bergman said he felt "incredibly happy, proud and humble" that the company has been able to restart production.

Bergman wouldn't give any forecast of how many cars NEVS expects to sell but said they will start on a small scale and adjust production based on order intake. The company aims to make electric cars under the Saab brand, but said it will provide petrol cars until "electric cars fully meet customer demands". It said it decided to start off with a petrol car to get production going as fast as possible and retain previous supply chains and specialist staff. Swedish customers will be able to buy the cars through its website from December 10.


/The Guardian/