Saab's New Owner Hopes to Restart 9-3 Production by End of 2013, Faces Supplier Issues
National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), the Chinese backed company formed to buy the assets of Saab, says that it has hired 300 workers for the factory in Trollhattan, Sweden and that it hopes to start making cars again there by the end of this year. Mikael Oestlund, a spokesman for NEVS, told Automotive News Europe that the Trollhattan plant is “practically ready” to begin production of the 9-3 sedan. That production is dependent on coming to agreements with suppliers. Also, some of Saabs former suppliers failed when the automaker went under and replacements for those parts must be found. “We are not there yet and therefore we are not able to make the decision of start of production,” Oestlund said.
The spokesman also said that the 9-3 that the revived company will make will be very close to the one that was being built by Saab in 2011 when the company went bankrupt. It will be powered by a turbocharged gasoline fired engine. An electrified version, promised for next year, will get different styling. The 9-3 will be sold in China and Europe at first, with possible North American sales later. “Saab will again be a global brand, but we will gradually add markets. The U.S. market is important for us and we intend to enter when we see that we have a business case,” Oestlund said.
Following the restart of production and the launch of an EV 9-3, NEVS plans to introduce completely new vehicles based on Saab’s Phoenix platform, developed but never produced. Before they can put a car based on the Phoenix architecture into production, about 20% of the car will have to be changed to components that were originally going to be sourced from General Motors, which formerly owned the Swedish car company. Oestlund told Automotive News Europe, “The Phoenix architecture is very flexible and when fully developed it will give us the opportunity to design and manufacture several models from smaller to bigger cars. We have not yet decided which models and we have no time plan — that is some years ahead.”
According to a Bloomberg report in January 2013, NEVS has plans to build 120,000 9-3 models a year by 2016. Saab’s best year was 2006 when it sold 133,000 cars.
Beijing National Battery Technology, which builds batteries for city buses, will supply the battery packs for the 9-3 EV. NEVS and Beijing National Battery Technology are both controlled by by Hong Kong National Modern Energy Holdings. That firm is is run by Swedish-Chinese businessman Kai Johan Jiang who has investments in green engery. Earlier this year, the Chinese city of Qingdao bought 22% of NEVS. NEVS bought Saab out of bankruptcy in August 2012.
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What a brilliant idea this is. Instead of waiting until you have some actual new product, lets start selling a car that was first designed when the internet still made fax noises and not many people wanted it even then. By the time Muller had destroyed the company nobody here in the UK knew the 9-3 still existed and the discounts you could get on the car were insane. Plus there is now no dealer network left in the UK and I very much doubt that anyone is going to want to get involved. Unless its new petrol engine gets 75mpg, does 0-60 in 3 secs, does 155mph and is as beautiful as a naked Jessica Alba, the 9-3 will go back to sitting in a dusty showroom while the British public carry on their love affair with Audi/BMW/Mercedes. If the brand is going to come back, it needs a ground up re-think to produce new product even if that is in the direction of EVs. What it doesn't need, is the same car re-re-re-re-released and then pushed back into a market that has long given up on it. But I'm guess I'm just looking on the dark side. I mean, look how well the Chinese have done with the re-launched MG brand in the UK..... Oh.... Ahh... Possibly not the best example.
As Shakespeare said: the ant-Saabists protest too much. Remember, NEVS has very deep pockets, something GM and Spyker did not have. AND....they are in no rush Let us keep an open mind.