Swedish carmaker Saab endeared itself to many throughout its history, with a reputation for unique design and technological innovation across several decades. That made watching its slow death last year excruciating for fans of the marque, and as the company closed its doors, the future for Saab and its home town of Trollhättan in Sweden looked bleak.
Thanks to Chinese-owned National Electric VehiclesSweden (NEVS), the future once again looks bright--and greener than ever. NEVS has finalized acquisition of the Saabautomobile bankruptcy estates, meaning Saab is once again in the hands of a company that wishes to continue its tradition for engineering--this time, with an electric vehicle.
Included in the acquisition are the IP rights to the Saab 9-3, tools, the manufacturing plant and test and laboratory facilities. The company also bought Saab's in-development Phoenix platform in the acquisition. The all-new platform, used in the 2011 PhoeniX concept, was set to be the basis of the next generation Saab 9-3, on which NEVS's first car is likely to be based. The company plans to develop a "world-class electric vehicle" at the Trollhättan plant. Development has been ongoing in Japan and China even before the acquisition, but can now continue in Sweden using the Saab facility's state-of-the-art technology. NEVS has announced that although it holds the rights to the Saab name, the present logotype will not be used--so Saab may well be rebranded to fit in with the new all-electric plan.
After years in the mire, fans of Saab will be pleased to hear the company is finally in good hands, granted a new lease of life to storm the electric vehicle market.
Source: Green Car Reports
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