From Automotive News:

A Chinese-controlled consortium has completed a deal to buy the assets of bankrupt Swedish carmaker Saab, media reports said.
National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) will pay 1.5 to 1.8 billion kronor ($210–250 million) for Saab, excluding spare parts company Saab Parts, according to reports in Sweden.

NEVS did not confirmed the reports. "I can only say we are are bidding for Saab," spokesman Mikael Ostlund told Automotive News Europe.
Saab's bankruptcy administrator, Hans Bergqvist, was unavailable for comment.

According to its Web site, NEVS is 51 percent owned by Hong Kong-based National Modern Energy Holdings, which focuses on alternative energy sources for China. The other 49 percent is owned by Sun Investment, a Japanese company that backs alternative energy enterprises.

Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/2012...#ixzz1x78Nf6G9

From TheLocal:

The sale of assets of bankrupt Swedish automaker Saab is complete, according to Swedish media reports, with a Swedish electric car consortium rumoured to be the main buyer. The electric car consortium National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) is set to purchase Saab Automobile, according to Sveriges Radio (SR). However, the head of the group refused to confirm the deal. ”I really can’t do that,” chairman of the NEVS board, Karl-Erik Trogen told SR on Thursday morning.

According to the TT news agency, both Saab administrators were too busy on Thursday morning to confirm the deal, first reported to be complete by the local Trollhätten news website ttela.se. It has previously been revealed that the consortium was prepared to pay 1.5 to 1.8 billion kronor ($208 - 250 million) for Saab, not including the spare parts company Saab Parts.

Annika Wennerblom, city manager for Trollhättan which is home of Saab's production plant, said early on Thursday she had been informed that a deal has been struck. “That’s all we know at the moment,” Wennerblom told ttela.se. “We haven’t been told when they will let us know who the buyer is. They have told us the deal will be signed this week but it is always hard to give exact moments in this kind of business.”

However, later on Thursday the head of information at the Trollhättan municiplaity, Peter Asp, denied that the municiplaity had any knowledge that a deal had been brokered. "Annika Wennerblom had interpreted it as if it was a done deal, but that is not the case. It is unfortunate that there was a misinterpretation," he said to Aftonbladet.

Saab Automobile, including subsidiaries Saab Tools and Saab Powertrain, was declared bankrupt in December last year, with debts amounting to some 13 billion kronor. After assets had been estimated, the debts stood at 9 billion. Over the course of the spring, the administrators have been in negotiations with a number of potential buyers who had shown an interest in purchasing the company as a whole. The aim has always been to broker a deal before the start of summer, according to news agency TT.

That is great news. Maybe SAAB will have a bright green future? Recovering from the turmoil of the past few years will be tough, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Once a pioneer of safety features, turbo charging and sensible design, now maybe the brand will continue its tradition of cutting edge technology with green technology? Let's hope so.

Originally Posted by Pistonheads

SAAB SOLD - BUT THE BUYER ISN'T WHO YOU'D THINK

Electric car consortium to turn Saab into a super-green brand

The Saab brand has officially been sold to National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS). The electric vehicle consortium sparked rumours of the sale by publishing the following statement on its website earlier this week: "SAAB Automobile, Trollhattan and Sweden stands for innovation and technology excellence. At SAAB Automobile, the engagement for future transportation solutions is pervasive."

PistonHeads Headlines - Saab sold - but the buyer isn't who you'd think

Filed under: Europe, Government/Legal, Saab, Earnings/Financials


You'll note that we have yet to remove Saab from the dropdown menu at the top of the Autoblog home page. Indeed, for a bankrupt company that hasn't built a new car from scratch yet this year, Saab generates a surprising amount of news, however, little of it has been the good kind. Perhaps that will all change today, as this latest report indicates that the company has actually been sold for real this time.

According to The Local, an English-language Swedish news site, the new owner of Saab is understood be National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB, "a Swedish-registered company founded by a Hong Kong-based firm specialised in alternative energy and a Japanese investment fund."

NEVS would only confirm that it had made a bid for Saab before the April 7 deadline, according to the report, which said that court administrators also refused to comment, though an official announcement is expected later this month. The offer is said to be in the $208-$250 million range and excludes the parts operation.

The report says news of the sale was shared by the Trollhättan city manager, and though she did not know who the buyer was, she said she had been told the deal would be inked this week. Shortly after media began reporting the story, however, a public relations official for the city denied that anyone at the city knew about any deal, characterizing the leak as a "misinterpretation," according to the report.

While we have imagined many times in recent months that we had written the final word on this Swedish soap opera, clearly this isn't it.Saab sold! Again. Probably. originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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I really don't see how Saab would live on with this deal. The future of electric vehicles remains to be seen and progress will be slow. I won't buy an electric car because it will never fit my needs. Price will be another issue.

NEVS buying Saab doesn't really strike me as good news at all. It won't be the Saab we used to know. They are just buying the brand, a few development vehicles and a factory. The Saab spirit doesn't automatically come with that. But I hope I'll be wrong about this.

Originally Posted by Frank Wulfers

I won't buy an electric car because it will never fit my needs. Price will be another issue.
...
NEVS buying Saab doesn't really strike me as good news at all. It won't be the Saab we used to know. They are just buying the brand, a few development vehicles and a factory. .

How can you buy an electric car if you are driving through the back roads of Northern Michigan and Ontario? Even Seattle to Vancouver would be difficult because you would have to stop for re-charging. The new Ford Focus electric car looks sharp but it cannot be charged at 480V so a Seattle-Vancouver drive would mean a 3-4 hour stop twice along the way.

NEVS acquiring Saab may be good for Trollhattan but it does nothing for the Saab driver, except those who are also looking for an electric car as a second car and who would buy a Tesla or Chevrolet Volt in addition to a Saab 9-3 or 9-5. If NEVS is not interested in Saab Parts, that is not good for the current Saab driver.

It looks like it is the end of an era. It's not ending yet because there are 500,000 Saabs in North America, some of them which are in very good condition now and will be able to be driven for quite a few years.

I think there'll be hybrids as well. It was reported in several places about NEVS.


Hey, an electric 9-3SC:

They mention green technology, not necessarily electric only. My wife used to have a Prius and my main complaint about the car is how boring and disconnected it was: ambiguous acceleration (felt slow but really wasn't) mushy suspension, numb steering, precisely vague steering... The Honda CRZ I rented in Germany was much more fun to drive but lacked interior space and power. I could see a fun Euro hybrid. Same SAAB as before? Most likely not, just the carrying of the brand foward. probably the same thing people said when GM bought SAAB.

Originally Posted by rpiereck

They mention green technology, not necessarily electric only.

If they have other plans besides electric cars, the company name National Electric Vehicle Sweden needs some adjustment to something like International Eco Vehicle China. The name suggests it's Swedish but it's a 100% Chinese company.

National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB is owned by National Modern Energy Holdings Ltd. (51%) and Sun Investment LLC (49%).
National Modern Energy Holdings Ltd is owned from Hong Kong and is focusing on alternative energy sources for China, using high-efficiency biomass power plant designs.


Sun Investment LLC is a Japanese investment company, focused on high-technology projects within environmental and sustainable solutions.

Chairman of National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB is Karl-Erling Trogen,

High-efficiency biomass power plant? I guess they mean ethanol as I can't imagine there will be a wood-burning vehicle in their plans. Biomass - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It would be a lot more interesting if there would be new hydrogen or nuclear-energy powered Saabs. Hmmm, a plutonium-powered Saab PhoeniX sounds pretty cool.

And yet another rumor turned to major Breaking News! story now being pulled from news sites. Say what you will about TTAC but at least they do some investigation to back up their stories.

This Swede (Second From Right) Allegedly Bought Saab | The Truth About Cars

Trollhättan’s newspaper TTELA reported yesterday (translation via The :Local) that “the sale of assets of bankrupt Swedish automaker Saab is complete.” The source was Trollhättan’s city manager Annika Wennerblom who told the Trollhättan newspaper that the deal is done. Hope springs eternal and makes a bad editor. Even worse, an unchecked story raced around the globe, leaving a string of 404s in its wake as editors hastily yanked the erroneous story.

Hours later, Trollhättan spokesman Peter Asp, called the news “Wennerblom’s own speculation that went awry.” He stated that “neither she, nor our local councilor Paul Akerlund, nor I have been informed that the administrators have completed their work.”

Now, NEVS spokesman Mikael Ostlund only wants to “confirm that NEVS is interested in buying Saab Automobile’s assets.” This is old hat. The allegedly Swedish company National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) had been rumored for a while as a bidder for the Saab assets that are on the block in a bankruptcy sale. What is more interesting is who is behind that freshly minted National Electric Vehicle Sweden.

Tired of all this stuff.. there isn't much company pride left.

National Electric Vehicle Sweden (Nevs) buys Saab's bankruptcy estate. Electric Vehicle Consortium's goal is to establish itself as a leading manufacturer of electric cars. The company wants to recruit a number engineers at Trollhättan to promptly initiate product development.

The photographers flocked around the electric car its principal owners Swedish-Chinese Kai Johan Jiang, president of the company Nevs and Karl-Erling Faithful to the press briefing. Next to them sat the three liquidators. The smiles on they were all wide.

- Oops, started Kai Johan Jiang its part of the well-attended press conference.

- It's a huge day for me to stand here and say that we agree with the administrators, he says in Swedish.

- My passion for green energy and sustainability has led me to stand here today and who will lead the way forward in the automotive industry is to switch to green power, he says.

Nevs to establish itself as a leading manufacturer of electric cars.

- Initially, we will recruit engineers and management. We will also get help from the Japanese and Chinese engineers and develop a good partnership with consulting firm with former Saab employees, says Karl-Erling Faithful.

- Initially, we need to hire at least a couple hundred, but I can not say much more right now, he says.

True also says it's electric cars that Nevs to produce, not hybrids.

- The foundation is building a very good electric car, that's what makes a good brand. There is a demand for a premium electric car, and that is what we create, says Mattias Bergman.

- Display a green electricity in green cars, adds Karl-Erling Faithful.

The price for the assets Nevs acquisition is not yet public, according to the receivers. The purchase includes all shares in the property company that owns the plant in Trollhättan.

It does not include spare parts company, Saab Parts, nor the immeratiella permissions to the Saab 9-5, which is owned by General Motors.

The first model Nevs plan to develop will therefore build on the existing 9-3 and adapted to electric drive, with Japanese technology. The launch is scheduled for end 2013/2014, writes Nevs and the receivers in the joint press release.

At the same time developed a completely new model, also with Japanese technology, which will be launched globally. The focus of the model will be on China, which is considered the largest and most important market for EVs.

- The technology that currently dominates the automotive industry is not sustainable, says Nevs spokesman Mattias Bergman.

- The automotive industry is also one of the most competitive industries that are available and it comes to having a new business plan and a vision, he adds.

- Today there are 48 cars per 1 000 inhabitants in China. Should it be the same number of cars in China per person it is in the U.S., not being adequate world's resources.

Nevs say they have no interest in the Saab 9-5 and 9-4X.

- Partly because GM does not let the technology but also because these platforms are too heavy to produce electric cars by. Our interest lies with the Saab 9-3. Mattias says Bergman.

From Trollhattan noises in this direction is positive:

- Saab has resurfaced, with continued production in Trollhättan. The words are wonderful for me to say, said Paul Akerlund (S), Mayor of Trollhättan.

Akerlund also think that the environmental profile Nevs have fit well with the Trollhattan.

- Here we go, he says.

The union IF Metall Federal Chairman Anders Ferbe is but taking out a victory in advance. He is careful to point out that many pieces of the puzzle is in place before there can be output to a number of IF Metall members can return to work.

The former group management with Victor Muller at the head have contributed to the deal could be implemented.

- The whole of the previous group management of Saab Automobile has been a great support, especially in the early stages of bankruptcy, says liquidator Hans Bergqvist.

- Victor Muller has shown a deep commitment to this sale process and have both shown up facility for stakeholders and interested parties introduced, he added.

Karl-Erling True to say that Nevs however, had no contact with Victor Muller.

True, the question of when the business is estimated to have been spinning.

- We believe that we can see a rapid development of the volumes here in Trollhättan. But we will not give more information today. It's easy to throw out the numbers early but we are tired now and want to return in a more orderly forms of this, says Faithful.

- I am very pleased that the administrators have done a good job of finding a buyer, says Saab's former owner Victor Muller said.

The receivers have been aided by Muller at a distance in the process of sale of the estate.

- I have done what I said I would. I have been extremely anxious to find a buyer so that my employment can return to their jobs - it has been the main goal, he says.

Muller would not comment on the new buyers Nevs plans to produce electric cars, but we wish them every success.

- I hope their business plan is feasible and that they become extremely successful, says Muller.

Nevs asked if when the factories were to be filled with personnel.

- Factory Staff will enter as production starts. The recruiting now are engineers and managers, says Mattias Bergman.

As for spare parts company, Saab Party Faithful respond:

- We have made a deal with Saab Parts. We will be very dependent on each other to come.

Kai Johan Jiang promises one of the reporters at the press conference that he will be able to afford to buy an electric car.

- The electric car is much cheaper to run than a gasoline vehicle, he said.

More precisely, what Nevs electric cars will cost Jiang can not say today.


Read original article in Swedish