National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB, which bought most of the assets of Saab, will restart production of the 9-3 sedan today, Dec. 2, 2013, at the company's Trollhattan factory according to a NEVS spokesman. It will be built in "small and humble numbers" for the Chinese and domestic Swedish markets. Other than a preproduction sample that was assembled by NEVS in September to make sure the factory could still run, the Trollhattan assembly lines have been silent for almost two years. Saab filed for bankruptcy in 2011 after the Dutch sports car company Spyker bought it from General Motors in 2010.
NEVS, is 22 percent owned by the Chinese city of Qingdao. The NEVS spokesman confirmed that an electric version of the 9-3 sedan planned to be launched in China in 2014. The spokesman also said that NEVS has negotiated contracts with the 9-3′s 400 or so suppliers to ensure a reliable supply of parts.
The car being assembled is mostly identical to the one that stopped production in 2011 though it may get restyled when the EV version is launched.
About 600 people are employed at the Trollhattan assembly plant, down from 3,500 at the time of the bankruptcy.
from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com
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