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New owners of Saab don't get to use the name

Saab won't be revived as a Chinese-backed electric car brand. Aerospace and defense company Saab AB has declined to let the new owners of the dormant automaker's old designs and factory use the name on new cars, Automotive News reports. It's a blow to fans of the Swedish brand, who hoped the name would be revived on new vehicles coming out of the same factory as models like the 99 Turbo. National Electric Vehicle Sweden, known as NEVS, bought major assets of the Saab operation in 2012 following former parent Spyker's decision to liquidate the company in December 2011. This not only included the Trollhattan assembly plant in Sweden, but the rights to the Saab 9-3 and the platform of its successor. NEVS built some new 9-3s using leftover parts and powered by the old 2.0-liter turbo engines, with the intent to raise money to produce new electric vehicles for Europe and China – and to use the Saab name. When General Motors bought all of Saab Automobile in 2000, it used the name under license from the Saab AB. That permission was then passed to Spyker in 2010 and later NEVS, albeit without the griffin logo. But when NEVS sought creditor protection in 2014, Saab AB revoked the naming rights. Following reorganization, NEVS in August announced a deal with Dongfeng Motor Corp. to develop a new lineup of electric vehicles, which was revealed in December to include five new models by 2018, some assembled in China by 2020 – the first of which being an EV version of the old 9-3. However, Saab AB told Automotive News that discussions have ended regarding the use of the Saab name on these vehicles. NEVS owner Kai Johan Jiang told a Swedish radio station the company will find a new name to market the cars under when they go on sale. It's similar to what happened to SAIC when it purchased vehicle technology from bankrupt British carmaker MG Rover. While it had the tooling to essentially make the Rover 75, the brand name at the time belonged to BMW and barred SAIC from using it, so the Roewe brand was created in China. It's unclear why talks broke down and also where NEVS will get a new name (there aren't nicer ways to spell Saab, and it was originally an acronym, anyway). Will Saab AB attach its name to another line of cars? Probably not. What it does mean, however, is that Saab fans have to cling tighter to their old cars now. Perhaps that's for the best. Related Video:

Saab owner may speed up relaunch with gas-powered 9-3

National Electric Vehicle Sweden, the new owner of Saab, has good news for you if you happened to miss out on picking up a 9-3 before the company plummeted through bankruptcy. Automotive News Europe reports NEVS may offer a gasoline-powered 9-3 in 2013. That move would effectively step up the brand's re-launch plan by a full year. Originally, the company planned to introduce an electric vehicle in 2014, but NEVS is currently investigating ways to start production next summer using "a 9-3 with a traditional powertrain" in order to generate more cash for the electrification effort.
NEVS purchased Saab earlier this year with the intent of resurrecting the brand with a fully electric product portfolio. The new EVs would theoretically ride on the Saab Phoenix platform and be manufactured at the automaker's plant in Trollhattan, Sweden. The report of a resurrected gasoline model came courtesy of Mikael Oestlund, a company spokesperson familiar with the company's workings.

NEVS completes Saab purchase, earns right to brand name but not griffin badge

According to the Associated Press, a Hong Kong-based concern is close to building new Saab models. After some delays, National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) has completed the purchase of bankrupt Swedish automaker Saab.
NEVS says it plans to debut an electric vehicle in about 18 months. When the car comes to market, it will wear the Saab name, but not the marque's well-known griffin logo. Reuters reports that the company will produce EVs based on the Saab 9-3 platform, with intentions to sell these vehicles primarily in the Chinese market. Due to the continued use of the distinctive griffin head logo by commercial truckmaker Scania and the Saab aerospace group, NEVS was only granted access to the Saab name, not its emblem.