Good news, SAAB starts production of the new NEVS SAAB 9-3 on Monday 2nd November

Saab's new owner, National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), will begin series production of the 9-3 mid-sized sedan at the brand's Trollhattan assembly plant in Sweden on Monday, almost two years to the day since the company was forced to file for bankruptcy.
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

Great news, SAAB is back, test vehicles have been produced.

Saab's new owner, National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), has built two Saab 9-3 test cars at the brand's Trollhattan assembly plant in Sweden ahead of a production launch later this year.

The vehicles, which left the production line on Wednesday, are the first Saabs to be built at the plant since it closed in April 2011 ahead of the automaker filing for bankruptcy eight months later.

NEVS say the cars are primarily intended to assist in calibrating production line systems and to test new components ahead of full production.

"Prior to our decision to start production of Saab cars, we need to finalize a few remaining dialogues to build partnerships with suppliers. We now know that the plant is ready for production," Mattias Bergman, acting president of NEVS, said in a statement on Wednesday.

NEVS plans to start output of the 9-3 powered by a gasoline turbocharged engine later this year. The model will be very similar to last Saab produced in 2011, Mikael Oestlund, a spokesman for NEVS, told Automotive News Europe.

An electric variant planned for production in 2014 will feature a new face-lifted exterior, Oestlund said.

Future Saab cars will not have the distinctive griffin head badge seen on previous Saabs after NEVS failed to acquire the rights to use the badge when it bought Saab out of bankruptcy last August.

Former owner Spyker, which bought Saab from General Motors, failed to revive the brand after trying unsuccessfully to arrange several deals with Chinese investors.

Phoenix architecture

NEVS has said previously it also plans to build cars based on the Phoenix architecture developed by Saab before the automaker went bankrupt. The platform will have to be modified to remove the 20 percent of parts sourced from GM.

The company plans to build 120,000 units of the 9-3 a year by 2016, according to a report by Bloomberg in January. That target would come close to the brand's 2006 peak of 133,000 autos.

NEVS says the 9-3 will be sold in Europe and China initially with U.S. sales possible later.

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