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Koenigsegg super cars team with Saab successor NEVS to go electric

STOCKHOLM — The Chinese-backed company born from the remnants of bankrupt Swedish automaker Saab is investing 150 million euros ($171 million) in a venture with Swedish super car brand Koenigsegg, in a move that could see them develop new electric models. National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (NEVS), in which China's Evergrande Health recently became the majority investor, said it would take a 65 percent stake in a new joint venture to "develop a product for new and untapped segments." Koenigsegg will hold the rest, and contribute intellectual property, technology licenses and product design. The deal deepens China's exposure to Swedish automakers, with Geely owning Volvo Cars and the largest investor in truckmaker AB Volvo, and another Chinese investor having created NEVS in 2012 after buying the core assets and IP rights of Saab Automobile following its demise. NEVS, which owns production bases in Trollhattan in Sweden and Tianjin in China and plans another in Shanghai, has been trying to establish itself as a pure electric automaker, but has yet to produce a car. Evergrande Health's $930 million cash infusion into NEVS, announced this month, was seen as a second lifeline, giving it funds to develop costly electric vehicles and access to new auto technologies, where Evergrande is expanding. The Chinese firm is a unit of property developer China Evergrande Group and is a former investor in U.S. electric vehicle developer Faraday Future. Tuesday's deal will give NEVS a 20 percent stake in Koenigsegg and could potentially pave the way for it to begin delivering products to the market, with its loose partnership with Didi Chuxing, China's Uber, yet to yield anything concrete. "Koenigsegg is an enticing company developing advanced cars with unique technology and with a customer base that is one of a kind. ... We have both competencies and facilities to support Koenigsegg on their journey forward," NEVS Chairman Kai Johan Jiang said. Koenigsegg, backed by U.S. and Norwegian investors, sought to buy Saab after its 2011 collapse but the deal never materialized. While the luxury brand has built a plug-in hybrid, it has yet to develop a fully electric vehicle. Tesla's sales success in recent years has shown that a market for luxury electric cars exists, pushing traditional carmakers including Volkswagen's Audi and Porsche, and Tata Motors' Jaguar to develop their own versions.

Junkyard Gem: 1986 Saab 900 Turbo

The Saab 900 sold well in Colorado, and owners of these cars tend to hang onto them for decades. For those reasons, I still find 900s while making my rounds of the self-service wrecking yards in the Denver region. The turbocharged models tended to fail more quickly than their naturally-aspirated counterparts, though, so the 900 Turbo can be tough to find today. Here's a 1986 that took its final tow-truck ride into a Denver yard a couple of months back. The 900 received a makeover for the 1987 model year, so today's Junkyard Gem comes from the final year of the 900 with the endearingly 1960s face derived from its 99 predecessor. Most of these cars didn't chug along for quite as many miles as their Volvo 240 countrymen, but that may be attributable more to the differences in driving style between Volvo and Saab owners. The word TURBO had magical connotations during the 1980s, and so most turbocharged cars of the era boasted big, obvious badging. Red car interiors were all the rage during the 1980s and 1990s. Try to imagine the vivid bordellitude of this upholstery before it faded beneath the blazing Colorado sun. Was it a runner when it arrived here? We'll never know. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Born from jets, sure, though the original Saab jet was known as "the Flying Barrel" and wasn't especially graceful-looking. Featured Gallery Junked 1986 Saab 900 Turbo View 14 Photos Auto News Saab Automotive History

NEVS, Dongfeng ready to make more green cars

National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (NEVS), the owner of the sorta-still-there Saab automobile brand, has reached a deal with Dongfeng Motor Corp. in which the China-based automaker will help NEVS develop greener vehicles. NEVS and Dongfeng have been working together since July, though the agreement was officially announced Monday. The companies say the agreement relates to so-called "new-energy" vehicles, though neither details of what those new energy vehicles will be nor financial terms were disclosed. But there's long been talk about Saab working on electrified vehicles, so this appears to be a move in the right direction. NEVS has picked a large company as its development partner. As part of the agreement, Dongfeng will speed up the development of advanced powertrains at its plant in Tiajin, China. In return, NEVS will help Dongfeng get distribution in both North America and Europe while helping the Chinese automaker sort through the matrix of developing vehicles that meet regulatory standards in those two regions, which is no easy task. Dongfeng made more than 3.8 million vehicles last year, and has done business with Peugeot, Citroen, Renault, Nissan, Honda, and Kia. Last we reported, NEVS was in the process of reorganization this past winter, and it's unclear how that will impact the relationship with Dongfeng. Also unclear is the status of the Saab brand name. The Saab AB aerospace company is no longer affiliated with the automaker and disputes NEVS using its name, but the NEVS website still highlights the Saab automotive brand. NEVS bought Saab out of bankruptcy in 2012. The latest NEVS press release is available below. Related Video: Nevs and Dongfeng tie-up for long-term strategic cooperation National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (Nevs) and Dongfeng Motor Corporation (Dongfeng) signed a strategic cooperation agreement on August 17, 2015 to achieve global industrial synergies. Since July 2015, Nevs has started working with Dongfeng on complete vehicle development projects to enhance Dongfeng's technical strength and improve Nevs' own development capability. Now both parties have agreed to expand their cooperation from technical development to further business areas such as global purchasing and distribution network. Dongfeng has formed several strategic long term partnerships with other international major car manufacturers including AB Volvo and as a 14 percent shareholder of PSA.