Despite all odds, Saab will soldier on. The Detroit News reports National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB has agreed to purchase a majority of the bankrupt automaker. The consortium is owned by Hong Kong-based National Modern Energy Holdings Ltd. and the Japanese investment group Sun Investment LLC, and that the two created NEVS just to purchase Saab. The group is currently led by a former Volvo Trucks executive. The purchase takes over the $1.9 billion in Saab debt. Both the bankruptcy administrators and NEVS agreed not to disclose the sale price for the company.
Interestingly enough, the sale does not include Saab Automobile Parts AB. Instead, the Swedish National Debt office has announced it intends to take over the parts business.
Meanwhile, Automotive News Europe reports the first vehicle from the newly-rescued Swedish automaker will be an electric car. Based on the next 9-3, the EV will bow in 2014, though there are few details available beyond the projected launch date. According to SaabsUnited, NEVS only purchased the rights to the next-gen 9-3, not the rest of the (now ostensibly completely dead) Saab lineup that included the 9-5 sedan and 9-4X crossover.
Saab hasn’t built a single car since 2011. The automaker filed for bankruptcy in December after all production stopped in March of the same year. According to Automotive News, Saab hasn’t been profitable in nearly 20 years, though that figure has been the subject of dispute by its previous owners, who held that former parent General Motors used the brand as a channel to offload debts and development costs.
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