The last cars produced by the automaker rolled off the production line in April 2011, eight months before Saab, then under the control of Spyker NV, filed for bankruptcy on December 19.
''Yes, we will start the actual production on Monday,'' Mikael Oestlund, a spokesman for NEVS, told Automotive News Europe, adding that initial output would have a ''humble'' pace with the possibility to increase the volume over time.
National Electric Vehicle Sweden, which is owned by a Chinese renewable energy investor, bought Saab out of bankruptcy last August. The production start has been achieved after NEVS was able to reach an agreement with parts suppliers, Oestlund said.
Oestlund said the production car would be powered by a gasoline turbocharged engine and would resemble pre-series models built for testing in September. These in turn closely resembled the last production 9-3s built at Trollhattan in 2011.
Oestlund said an electric variant of the 9-3, initially aimed at the Chinese market, will begin production in 2014. This will likely feature a new face-lifted exterior.
In August, Oestlund told Automotive News Europe that the 9-3 will be sold in Europe and China initially with U.S. sales possible later.
Phoenix-based cars
NEVS has previously said it plans to build cars based on the Phoenix architecture developed by Saab before the automaker's bankruptcy, after first modifying it to remove the 20 percent of parts sourced from former Saab owner General Motors.
NEVS is owned by Hong Kong National Modern Energy Holdings, which is run by Swedish-Chinese green energy entrepreneur Kai Johan Jiang. NEVS is 22 percent owned by the Chinese city of Qingdao following a deal earlier this year.
IS THIS THE NEW 9-3 THAT WILL BE THE FACE LIFTED CAR ?
REPORT HERE
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