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Saab - The Good News And The Bad News

Topics:  Saab

Saab - The Good News And The Bad News

Geoff Maxted
DriveWrite
December 2, 2013

It is great news for Sweden and great news for die-hard Saab fans that the company is definitely commencing new production. Saab's new owner, National Electric Vehicle Sweden, will begin series production of the 9-3 mid-sized saloon at its plant in Trollhattan Sweden today, almost two years to the day since the company was forced to file for bankruptcy. The last cars produced by the Swedish car maker rolled off the production line in April 2011. Subsequently, Saab, then filed for bankruptcy in December of that year.

"Yes, we will start the actual production on Monday," a NEVS spokesman said, adding that initial output would be at a "humble" pace with the possibility to increase the volume over time. He promised more details to follow. NEVS bought Saab out of bankruptcy last August. The production start became possible after NEVS reached an agreement with their parts suppliers.

Saab have announced that the production car would be powered by a turbo petrol engine and would resemble the pre-series models built for testing in September. The car that comes off the line on today will closely resemble the last production 9-3s built at Trollhattan in 2011. NEVS have stated that early production will be aimed at Europe and China initially. They will begin production of an electric variant of the 9-3 in 2014. That car initially will be marketed in China and will likely feature a face-lifted exterior.

The bad news is that it is the 9-3. It was an OK car in its time but there does not appear to have been much attempt to revitalise the model apart from a few cosmetic changes. Still, early days; let us hope that the lost customers who have turned to other brands will return to the fold.