The new owners of the bankrupt Swedish carmaker Saab announced Monday, that they will launch their first new model in 2014.
Saab’s new owner National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (Nevs) has bought the main assets of Saab Automobile AB, Saab Automobile Powertrain AB and Saab Automobile Tools AB, whish give them rights to use the name Saab on their future cars, but not Saab’s famous logo the Griffin, the mythological half-lion half-eagle, which Saab shares with the Saab defense and aeronautics group and Scania trucks, which all used to be part of the same corporate group.
“We have reached an agreement about the brand. We have a license deal with Saab AB and can use the name as our brand. The company will be called Nevs and the product will be called Saab,” Bergman said Mattias Bergman from Nevs to news agency TT.
According to the company the logo was less important to the company.
“We are building a new company and a new image. And it was Saab we wanted,” Bergman told TT.
News is a joint venture between China’s National Modern Energy Holdings and the Japanese fund Sun Investment. They plan to make Saab into a world-class electric vehicle.
“In approximately 18 months, we plan to introduce our first electric vehicle based on Saab 9-3 technologies and a new technology electric powertrain,” Karl-Erling Trogen, the chairman of NEVS, said in a statement. The new Saabs will primarily be aimed at the Chinese market.
Saab 9-3 Convertible
“The Chinese can increasingly afford cars; however, the global oil supply would not suffice if they all buy petroleum-fueled vehicles,” NEVS main owner Kai Johan Jiang said.
“Chinese customers demand a premium electric vehicle, which we will be able to offer by acquiring Saab Automobile in Trollhaettan,” he added.
Saab filed for bankruptcy last December after teetering on the edge of the abyss for almost two years. In June, bankruptcy administrators announced an agreement with Nevs.
At the time of its bankruptcy, Saab was working on a new version of its 9-3 sedan. But it was forced to halt that project due to a lack of financing. Nevs said Monday it was now in the process of recruiting new management and engineers.
The Swedish government hailed the agreement.
“The aim of developing new electric cars based on Saab’s proven technology is innovative and forward-looking. It fits in well with the existing research and development in the Swedish automobile industry,” minister for enterprise Annie Lööf said in a statement.
