The Saab Car Brand is Dead. Mourn (Once Again) for Saab

by Steph Willems

Published: June 21st, 2016

You can forget about ever buying a new car with the Saab name attached. That’s right, Swedeophiles, the name that conjures up happy memories of a quirky-but-attainable brand that hated column-mounted ignitions is officially dead.

National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (NEVS), the Swedish holding company that bought up Saab Automobile’s assets in a 2012 bankruptcy sale, just announced it won’t sell any vehicles under the Saab name.

There won’t be a Swedish Spring after all. Not even in China.

NEVS produced a handful of electric Saab 9-3s using the vehicle’s old platform for a brief period in 2013-2014, but production stopped as the company filed for bankruptcy protection and went on the hunt for wealthy investors. It also lost the licensing agreement from the defunct brand’s parent company that allowed it to use the Saab name.

In a message published today on its website, the company states, “NEVS will be the trademark of the company’s products including the first electric vehicle based on the 9-3 platform with start in 2017. That means that NEVS will no longer use the Saab trademark.”

Last year, NEVS did what every struggling would-be automaker lists as their Plan A or B — it headed to China to search for cash. The company formed a strategic partnership with Chinese vehicle leasing company Panda New Energy and Chinese State Grid, the world’s biggest electric utility to build 150,000 electric cars and 100,000 electric commercial vehicles for that country’s vast market.

It wants to market vehicles worldwide, but for now, China is the company’s main focus.

No doubt, Scandinavian car aficionados will cry into their Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri Landsort Lager after reading this news, but NEVS isn’t too concerned.

With sincere respect to our history and heritage, we want to be recognized as ourselves – A sustainable mobility solutions provider who are committed to the environment with a focused growth plan with its own brand as a corner stone, stated Mattias Bergman, president of the company (and owner of a proud Swedish name), on the company’s website.

#China #NationalElectricVehicleSweden #NEVS #Production #Saab #Sweden

Steph Willems

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4 of 79 comments

Pig_Iron on Jun 22, 2016

So long SAAB, I will miss you. You were my favorite. Thanks for giving me something to aspire to. No one else has done so since.

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MRF 95 T-Bird on Jun 22, 2016

I always thought Subaru i.e.. Fuji Heavy industries should have bought out the remains of Saab. They could have been marketed as upper market Subarus to roughly the same demographic who wanted something a bit more upscale.

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- Sgeffe on Jun 23, 2016
  
  Which was with the 9-2x, IIRC. WRX wagon with a console-mounted key. A true Saabaru!
  
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- Wolfsbane on Dec 18, 2016
  
  I agree. I always thought a combination of Fuji, AKA Subaru, SAAB and the pre-FIAT ALFA Romeo would have made sense as a combination. Their cars all had a similar quirkiness. Unfortunately there wasn't a strong company in that mix. They all were in a similar position. But they could have made some great cars together.
  
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