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New owners still struggling to secure rights to use Saab name

Not to state the obvious, but if you're going to buy an automaker, it's probably advisable to secure rights to use the name.
That's what the new owners of Saab are trying to work out after buying the iconic Swedish automaker earlier this month, Automotive News reports.
National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), the Chinese-Japanese conglomerate, acquired the company's physical assets, including its factory in Trollhättan, but didn't get rights to use the Saab name and logo. Truckmaker Scania and defense company Saab AB maintain the name and logo rights, and will need to sign off on NEVS using it, according to the publication. The parties are in discussions.

There will be five new SAAB EVs, starting in 2017

National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), which bought Swedish automaker Saab out of bankruptcy in 2012, has finally solidified some of its vehicle-making plans. And given the prominence of the word "electric" in the company's name, NEVs is staying true to its vision, announcing that it will have five electric vehicle models for sale by 2018. The company recently made the announcement in Stockholm, according to Saab Blog. The first EV will be based on the Saab 9-3 platform and may be available in China and Sweden by 2017. The following year, NEVS is planning to debut four more all-electric models, including a sports car, SUV, crossover, and a fastback. The cars will be assembled in Tianjin, China. Whether the Saab badge will actually be used remains in question, as NEVS is no longer affiliated with the Saab AB aerospace company. Making things even potentially murkier is the fact that NEVS said this fall that it would sell the intellectual property rights for the 9-3 to the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), which would make the model the official Turkish National Car. Then again, nothing's been simple for Saab, which has passed through General Motors and Spyker and has had multiple reorganizations. Either way, the plan follows up a summer announcement that NEVS would work with China-based automaker Dongfeng Motor Corp. to develop electrified vehicles. Dongfeng has worked with electric-vehicle leaders Nissan and Renault as well as Honda, Kia and Peugeot. The company made more than 3.8 million vehicles in 2014.

Why won't automakers slap on a turbo badge anymore?

Where have all the turbos gone? Not the actual pieces that go in the engine, mind you, those are everywhere these days as automakers downsize cylinder counts and boost efficiency and CO2 claims. But the turbo badges and fanfare are missing. Back when turbos were something to get excited about there was "turbo-driven," "turbonium," and "The Turbo Zone," among other silly lines. But now that basically every car is getting some sort of boost even on the lowliest trims, automakers are almost sliding in the turbos under the radar. Or if you look at some of the nomenclature, pretending they don't exist at all. The 911 Turbo badge shows where the car goes from being sane to lunatic. It's an important border. The latest automaker to hide that it has boosted the turbo presence is Porsche with the 2017 911 lineup. Even the standard Carrera models now get turbocharged flat-six engines, meaning the 911 Turbo models aren't quite as special as they once were. Porsche is in a sticky situation with this. The 911 Turbo, after all, signifies where the 911 family takes off from being a sports car and becomes the Ferrari fighter. The 911 Turbo badge shows where the car goes from being sane to lunatic. It's an important border, but now Porsche has crossed it and is trying to downplay the fact. There are a lot of exaggerations with displacement badges today, with claims the 2.0-liter turbo four in a Mercedes C Class equates to a naturally aspirated 3.0-liter six to make a C300. Volvo is pretty far up there, too, saying an XC90 T8 means V8 power, even though it's a 2.0-liter turbocharged and supercharged four with electric assist. I don't know why BMW can't just call the car a 330i Turbo, rather than inflating the numbers up to 340i. Saab tried all of this back in the '90s when it decided to turbocharge its entire lineup, from light pressure units all the way up to models actually called "Saab 9-3 HOT" (for high-output turbo). But then the brand deleted any external reference to the turbo under the hood and people wondered why they were buying a $42,000 four-cylinder convertible. And that didn't turn out well. Even though these turbo replacements often make more power than their naturally aspirated predecessors, they're very different engines. People knew something changed when they exchanged their leased 328i with a 3.0-liter six for a 328i with a 2.0-liter turbo four.