SAAB production to restart in August

Published on 10 January 2013 11:55 Number of Views: 17194

5 Comments

News have been coming out of Sweden and China as NEVS says SAAB cars will be made again. P4 West states that by the end of August 2013 SAAB cars will again be made in Trollhättan. According to the Swedish news radio station, 8,000 SAAB 9-3 sedans in both gasoline and diesel versions will be made, and in the future an electrical version will be available. The SAAB 9-3X will be available by year's end; there is no mention of the 9-3 Sport Combi being produced.

These will be the first SAABs to roll out of the production line in over two years, marking a return to production that has been much awaited by some, and met with skepticism by others. NEVS says in two years the factory will be producing 120,000 vehicles annually. Press officer Mikael Östlund says these news have not been confirmed in Sweden but neither are they denied. There is ongoing dialogue with suppliers, and a final decision is pending on all parties involved. No doubt there is excitement in the air in western Sweden as the beloved manufacturer might have another chance at becoming operational.

One question remains unanswered, however, is whose engines will power the 2013 SAAB 9-3. The former 9-3 had a General Motors designed engine, and it is highly unlikely that GM would license this engine to NEVS, especially after all the hurdles that GM put on SAAB's path of independence. The tooling and know-how for SAAB's old but good H-series engine has been sold to BAIC, a completely separate auto manufacturer from NEVS. Rumors of a possible FIAT engine gracing new SAABs are just vapor right now. That would be a possible option, as FIAT diesel engines have been installed in the 9-3 before.

Sources: http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel...rtikel=5404549 and http://saabblog.net/2013/01/10/saab-...00-fahrzeugen/

Picture source: Sveriges Radio.

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Company and People

5 Comments

Burnsside42 - 10 January 2013
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Didn't realize the ENGINES rights were sold to the BAIC as well - that sucks. It was a good series of engines - but it was an old engine in need of a worthy replacement - which imho, never came.

rpiereck - 10 January 2013
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Originally Posted by Burnsside42

Didn't realize the ENGINES rights were sold to the BAIC as well - that sucks. It was a good series of engines - but it was an old engine in need of a worthy replacement - which imho, never came.

Old news but BAIC did indeed buy some SAAB assets like the H-engine: Beijing Auto Works | Confirmed: BAIC buys 3 Saab platforms, and two turbo engines | China Car Times - China Auto News and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing...ology_transfer

nordwulf - 10 January 2013
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In another article from P4 West, it is mentioned, NEVS said in the letter to their suppliers "We will in the foreseeable future offer very competitive conventional powertrains both 9-3 platform and our new platform."

Mikael Östlund, NEVS press officer, said to P4 West 'We do not want to close any doors to a market demand for our products, but we look at the demand and make decisions based on that.'

Nevs vill utveckla nya bensinbilar

Perhaps they should change their name from NEVS to NVS. I still don't understand what National refers to.

120.000 vehicles within 2 years? As with everything concerning Saab in the past 4 years, let's just wait and see..

rpiereck - 10 January 2013
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All these late news are very optimistic for the brand, but I think while they might ultimately be great news for those formerly employed by the old SAAB in Trollhättan, we still need to see what this will mean for the European and American SAAB consumer and enthusiast.

120,000 vehicles is highly optimistic especially when you consider that on SAAB's best year ever they sold 135,000 cars. Me thinks the market attitude both in the US and the EU will be a wait-and-see, while sales might be stronger in China on the beginning.

There is interesting conversation on the topic at Swade's blog (NEVS press release on the Chinese Saab factory and my 2 cents on the whole shebang - Swadeology), where someone alludes to something I did not know, that Saab-named cars can only be made in Sweden, not in China, where they might be named 瑞典汽車 (Chinese for Swedish Automobile). (NEVS press release on the Chinese Saab factory and my 2 cents on the whole shebang - Swadeology)

Dave T - 10 January 2013
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If it is the same engine, I am optimistic. If the 9-3 gets a new engine, I am not optimistic that production will restart in August.