Saab restarts production line in Trollh"attan

Thu, 19 Sep 2013

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.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013
The first pre-series car assembled today

"I am pleased that today we have assembled our first car to verify all the production processes here in Trollhättan. 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", said Mattias Bergman, acting President for Nevs.

By Brandon Turkus