1994 Saab 900 Convertible Commemorative Edition on 2040-cars

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Saab restarts production line in Trollh"attan

The new owner of Saab, National Electric Vehicle Sweden, has bolted together its first two new cars at the company's traditional home in Trollhättan. The two 9-3 sedans were built to work bugs out of the production line and test newer components before full-scale production starts near the end of the year.
NEVS acting President, Mattias Bergman, issued a statement saying, "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." First up for NEVS will be gas-powered, turbocharged 9-3s, before bringing a facelifted, electrified variant later next year. There are also plans to rejigger Saab's never-was Phoenix architecture for production, although NEVS needs to excise the remaining General Motors tech from the platform before building anything.
According to a report on Automotive News Europe, once under way, NEVS has set an optimistic target of 120,000 units per year by 2016, with sales focused in Europe and China - there's no official word on if NEVS ever plans to bring the Saab name back to North America.

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.

GM recalls over 230,000 more Trailblazer-family SUVs over door electronics

Back in August, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a recall on the General Motors GMT360 SUVs (Buick Rainier, Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Isuzu Ascender and Saab 9-7X) ranging from the 2005 to 2007 model years and the 2006 GMT370 SUVs (Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT and GMC Envoy XL) due to potential fires associated with the driver's door module. Initially limited to 250,000 units sold or registered in 20 Snow Belt states (and the District of Columbia), the recall has now been expanded to include an additional 193,000 of these SUVs in the US and, according to The Detroit News, 40,000 more sold outside the US, including Canada and Mexico.
Like the original recall, the issue is still a faulty driver's door module that can short out, which could lead to a fire. The Detroit News is reporting that, out of the 443,000 units being recalled, GM says that there were 58 fires that caused 11 minor injuries, and the expanded recall accounted for six fires and one injury. Despite the lower number of fires, the recall notice recommends that owners park their vehicles until the recall repairs has been performed.
On recalled units with functional modules, the repair consists of a protective coating being applied to the module, while vehicles with modules that are not working properly will have the driver's door module replaced. The official recall notice is posted below, and it includes contact information for customers of all five brands.