Saab: Sales, Marketing, and Financial News
03-10-2005, 03:57 PM
#41
The sizzle in the Steak
Originally Posted by M TYPE X
You just know that GM is gonna run SAAB into the ground.
03-10-2005, 05:07 PM
#43
Moderator Alumnus
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It's not over yet for Saab folks. Let's wait and see what the next 3 years will bring. Be patient, I think we'll see some good stuff come out of Saab soon.
08-25-2007, 03:10 AM
#44
Senior Moderator
Saab: New chief speaks on future of the car company...
From Edmunds...
Saab Gets One Last Chance To Restore Its Profitability
Last week, in his GM FastLane blog, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz confessed that although "in my younger days I was never what you would call a Saab enthusiast," he is now a champion for the Swedish brand. "We in senior management are convinced that Saab is a jewel in the GM crown, and we're determined to ensure its success," he wrote.
"So while I've read a number of comments on this blog questioning the future of Saab, let me say that it belongs in the GM family and we plan on keeping it there," Lutz added.
Such public support from his boss must be appreciated by Steve Shannon, the new boss of Saab Automobile USA, but his job, saving Saab while keeping the brand's loyalists happy, still won't be easy. This he knows.
The New Guy
When Shannon posted his first column on the GM Fastlane blog in late April, imploring Saab boosters to "be patient with me as I learn the ropes around here," the responses, many from longtime owners, got straight to the point. Typical comments: "Saab needs to find its future in the past." "Keep the quirkiness that Saab owners have come to love and expect, and resist the corporate 'parts bin' mentality." "Help the brand keep some of its unique identity. It goes way beyond the key on the console."
Uh oh. While it appears that a more coherent product strategy for Saab is finally emerging after nearly two roller-coaster decades under GM's stewardship, that troublesome word "quirky" still seems to be missing from the corporate vocabulary. Regarding the brand's well-known and much-loved idiosyncrasies, Shannon, a 25-year GM veteran, says, "I was trained that 'quirky' is never to be used."
Instead, the former Buick general manager is taking a more measured approach. With four all-new models in the next three years, Shannon's mantra is: Keep it simple, keep it Saab. Future Saabs will share global architectures with other GM products, but the brand will wrap more distinctive sheet metal around the hardware, with more Saab design cues inside and out, as well as specifically tailored driving dynamics, more horsepower and a renewed emphasis on safety and the environment.
Time Is Running Out
This latest game plan sounds brilliant — if only Saab weren't dangling on the ropes after hemorrhaging cash for all but two of the past 17 years. While GM Chairman Rick Wagoner and Vice Chairman Bob Lutz continue to publicly express their support for the brand, Chief Financial Officer Fritz Henderson is taking a more hard-nosed approach, telling reporters that Saab "has to get results."
The implication is that GM is prepared to take some drastic measures if Saab's managers are unable to stem the flow of red ink and sell enough vehicles at least to offset the cost of developing new products. Right now, Saab sells about 35,000 vehicles a year in the U.S., which is more than the brand moves in Sweden if you can believe it, but it's also about 90,000 units less than Ford-owned Volvo moves in America.
With the first of those new cars still 18 months away from U.S. showrooms, Saab's very survival in the interim will require an additional infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars — money GM can ill afford as it attempts to revitalize its flagging auto operations in North America and Europe.
Wagoner & Co. may be smarter — and Saab enthusiasts better served — if they put the brand up for sale, as Ford has done with its Premier Automotive Group. There are enough parallels between Ford's unhappy experience with Jaguar and GM with Saab that a spin-off is beginning to make more sense at the General's Detroit headquarters.
Product Blitz Is Coming
In the meantime, Saab's new models, including the next-generation 9-5 and 9-3, already are more than halfway through the development pipeline. According to Shannon, the next generation of Saabs will satisfy even the sharpest critics. When the new 9-5 arrives in model-year 2009, enthusiasts will recognize that "the looks, the driving character make it absolutely a Saab," even though it will share its basic underbody architecture with the Chevrolet Malibu and the Opel Vectra.
Shannon is particularly keen on the new 9-4X, a five-passenger crossover vehicle designed in Michigan and based on a new midsize architecture that could be shared by four or five other GM brands, including Chevy and Daewoo. Shannon describes the car-based crossover as "the spiritual successor to the station wagon," though he quickly adds that wagons won't fade entirely from Saab's future lineup. "We can tune it to ride and handle like a Saab," he says when asked how the brand will differentiate the 9-4X from its corporate siblings.
The so-called 9-1 (Shannon says the name has not been finalized) stirs the most passion from Saab's U.S. boss. He describes the car, which will share basic mechanicals with the next Opel/Saturn Astra compact, as "a true Saab that will be a replacement for the 9-2X." Shannon says the vehicle will have "an interesting body style...an iconic shape with a lot of design flair — kind of the opposite of sensible shoes." He adds: "But it will also have a good dose of utility. This is not just a toy — we don't want to do a generic bread-and-butter car."
Saabaru No More
More good news for Saab fans: There may be a performance-oriented 9-1 Aero targeted at the next-generation Subaru Impreza WRX (as opposed to being a near clone of the WRX, as the late 9-2X was) and the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, with a high-output turbo four-cylinder under the hood and Saab's upcoming XWD Cross-Wheel-Drive system which will debut on the 2008 Saab 9-3.
As for future powertrains, Shannon says Saab "will have more bandwidth in turbocharged engines by then, from 200 horsepower to 300-plus." Advanced "clean" diesels, however, probably won't be seen in U.S.-bound Saabs until the next decade. And while Shannon anticipates that future Saabs might employ a version of the Chevrolet Volt's plug-in hybrid system, "that could be even farther down the road than diesels for us in the U.S."
On the downside, Shannon said there is no plan to resurrect the hallowed Sonett name any time soon on a genuine Saab sports car. As for the well-received Aero X concept, "as it stands, it will never see the light of day, but it will serve as a real inspiration" for future Saab products, including the new 9-4X and the next 9-3 and 9-5.
Kill or Be Killed
Until the new vehicles begin to trickle into U.S. dealers in early 2009, Saab will refocus its marketing on such core virtues as "responsible performance," safety and functionality, with innovative technology as a common thread binding everything together.
Shannon maintains that Saab "continues to fill a unique niche in GM's multibrand strategy in the U.S." And while Volvo, BMW, Audi and the premium Japanese brands remain its principal competitors, he insists that Saab does not — and will not — compete directly with Cadillac. Rather, "people who buy Saabs would never consider another GM product."
But it's by no means clear that Shannon can find enough of those non-GM buyers to keep Saab afloat in the States, at least until the new product wave hits these shores. Meanwhile, the question lingers: Will Saab loyalists come back to the brand in sufficient numbers, and will they generate enough positive buzz to lure newcomers to the fold?
If Shannon's bosses aren't satisfied with the results, don't be surprised to see GM follow Ford's lead with Jaguar: Pull the plug on the corporate life-support system and spin off Saab to the highest bidder.
Last week, in his GM FastLane blog, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz confessed that although "in my younger days I was never what you would call a Saab enthusiast," he is now a champion for the Swedish brand. "We in senior management are convinced that Saab is a jewel in the GM crown, and we're determined to ensure its success," he wrote.
"So while I've read a number of comments on this blog questioning the future of Saab, let me say that it belongs in the GM family and we plan on keeping it there," Lutz added.
Such public support from his boss must be appreciated by Steve Shannon, the new boss of Saab Automobile USA, but his job, saving Saab while keeping the brand's loyalists happy, still won't be easy. This he knows.
The New Guy
When Shannon posted his first column on the GM Fastlane blog in late April, imploring Saab boosters to "be patient with me as I learn the ropes around here," the responses, many from longtime owners, got straight to the point. Typical comments: "Saab needs to find its future in the past." "Keep the quirkiness that Saab owners have come to love and expect, and resist the corporate 'parts bin' mentality." "Help the brand keep some of its unique identity. It goes way beyond the key on the console."
Uh oh. While it appears that a more coherent product strategy for Saab is finally emerging after nearly two roller-coaster decades under GM's stewardship, that troublesome word "quirky" still seems to be missing from the corporate vocabulary. Regarding the brand's well-known and much-loved idiosyncrasies, Shannon, a 25-year GM veteran, says, "I was trained that 'quirky' is never to be used."
Instead, the former Buick general manager is taking a more measured approach. With four all-new models in the next three years, Shannon's mantra is: Keep it simple, keep it Saab. Future Saabs will share global architectures with other GM products, but the brand will wrap more distinctive sheet metal around the hardware, with more Saab design cues inside and out, as well as specifically tailored driving dynamics, more horsepower and a renewed emphasis on safety and the environment.
Time Is Running Out
This latest game plan sounds brilliant — if only Saab weren't dangling on the ropes after hemorrhaging cash for all but two of the past 17 years. While GM Chairman Rick Wagoner and Vice Chairman Bob Lutz continue to publicly express their support for the brand, Chief Financial Officer Fritz Henderson is taking a more hard-nosed approach, telling reporters that Saab "has to get results."
The implication is that GM is prepared to take some drastic measures if Saab's managers are unable to stem the flow of red ink and sell enough vehicles at least to offset the cost of developing new products. Right now, Saab sells about 35,000 vehicles a year in the U.S., which is more than the brand moves in Sweden if you can believe it, but it's also about 90,000 units less than Ford-owned Volvo moves in America.
With the first of those new cars still 18 months away from U.S. showrooms, Saab's very survival in the interim will require an additional infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars — money GM can ill afford as it attempts to revitalize its flagging auto operations in North America and Europe.
Wagoner & Co. may be smarter — and Saab enthusiasts better served — if they put the brand up for sale, as Ford has done with its Premier Automotive Group. There are enough parallels between Ford's unhappy experience with Jaguar and GM with Saab that a spin-off is beginning to make more sense at the General's Detroit headquarters.
Product Blitz Is Coming
In the meantime, Saab's new models, including the next-generation 9-5 and 9-3, already are more than halfway through the development pipeline. According to Shannon, the next generation of Saabs will satisfy even the sharpest critics. When the new 9-5 arrives in model-year 2009, enthusiasts will recognize that "the looks, the driving character make it absolutely a Saab," even though it will share its basic underbody architecture with the Chevrolet Malibu and the Opel Vectra.
Shannon is particularly keen on the new 9-4X, a five-passenger crossover vehicle designed in Michigan and based on a new midsize architecture that could be shared by four or five other GM brands, including Chevy and Daewoo. Shannon describes the car-based crossover as "the spiritual successor to the station wagon," though he quickly adds that wagons won't fade entirely from Saab's future lineup. "We can tune it to ride and handle like a Saab," he says when asked how the brand will differentiate the 9-4X from its corporate siblings.
The so-called 9-1 (Shannon says the name has not been finalized) stirs the most passion from Saab's U.S. boss. He describes the car, which will share basic mechanicals with the next Opel/Saturn Astra compact, as "a true Saab that will be a replacement for the 9-2X." Shannon says the vehicle will have "an interesting body style...an iconic shape with a lot of design flair — kind of the opposite of sensible shoes." He adds: "But it will also have a good dose of utility. This is not just a toy — we don't want to do a generic bread-and-butter car."
Saabaru No More
More good news for Saab fans: There may be a performance-oriented 9-1 Aero targeted at the next-generation Subaru Impreza WRX (as opposed to being a near clone of the WRX, as the late 9-2X was) and the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, with a high-output turbo four-cylinder under the hood and Saab's upcoming XWD Cross-Wheel-Drive system which will debut on the 2008 Saab 9-3.
As for future powertrains, Shannon says Saab "will have more bandwidth in turbocharged engines by then, from 200 horsepower to 300-plus." Advanced "clean" diesels, however, probably won't be seen in U.S.-bound Saabs until the next decade. And while Shannon anticipates that future Saabs might employ a version of the Chevrolet Volt's plug-in hybrid system, "that could be even farther down the road than diesels for us in the U.S."
On the downside, Shannon said there is no plan to resurrect the hallowed Sonett name any time soon on a genuine Saab sports car. As for the well-received Aero X concept, "as it stands, it will never see the light of day, but it will serve as a real inspiration" for future Saab products, including the new 9-4X and the next 9-3 and 9-5.
Kill or Be Killed
Until the new vehicles begin to trickle into U.S. dealers in early 2009, Saab will refocus its marketing on such core virtues as "responsible performance," safety and functionality, with innovative technology as a common thread binding everything together.
Shannon maintains that Saab "continues to fill a unique niche in GM's multibrand strategy in the U.S." And while Volvo, BMW, Audi and the premium Japanese brands remain its principal competitors, he insists that Saab does not — and will not — compete directly with Cadillac. Rather, "people who buy Saabs would never consider another GM product."
But it's by no means clear that Shannon can find enough of those non-GM buyers to keep Saab afloat in the States, at least until the new product wave hits these shores. Meanwhile, the question lingers: Will Saab loyalists come back to the brand in sufficient numbers, and will they generate enough positive buzz to lure newcomers to the fold?
If Shannon's bosses aren't satisfied with the results, don't be surprised to see GM follow Ford's lead with Jaguar: Pull the plug on the corporate life-support system and spin off Saab to the highest bidder.
07-29-2008, 11:34 PM
#45
GM Cuts Saab Warranty Coverage
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=129987
Date posted: 07-29-2008
DETROIT — General Motors is cutting warranty terms on all 2009 Saab vehicles it sells in the U.S. to conserve money.
Previously, Saabs have been sold with a standard five-year/100,000-mile warranty. That has been changed to a four-year/50,000-mile warranty. Saab will continue to provide free scheduled maintenance for three years or 36,000 miles.
The decision to slash the warranty terms only applies to the Saab brand and GM's other premium brands, such as Cadillac and Hummer.
GM did not disclose how much money it would save because of the new warranty terms at Saab.
What this means to you: Saab suffers fallout from GM's ongoing financial problems. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
DETROIT — General Motors is cutting warranty terms on all 2009 Saab vehicles it sells in the U.S. to conserve money.
Previously, Saabs have been sold with a standard five-year/100,000-mile warranty. That has been changed to a four-year/50,000-mile warranty. Saab will continue to provide free scheduled maintenance for three years or 36,000 miles.
The decision to slash the warranty terms only applies to the Saab brand and GM's other premium brands, such as Cadillac and Hummer.
GM did not disclose how much money it would save because of the new warranty terms at Saab.
What this means to you: Saab suffers fallout from GM's ongoing financial problems. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
08-13-2014, 11:41 AM
#46
Saab still not saved - Hyundai / Kia should buy the name
I saw this article today:
\http://www.thecarconnection.com/news...+Connection%29
Since Saab is going under again I am thinking that Hyundai / Kia should buy the name and patents to use Saab as their luxury line. They can set it up with 3 levels:
Economy level - Kia
Mainstream level - Hyundai
Luxury level - Saab
They may need to move some models to Saab but can see this:
- entry level 182 inch sedan - Saab 9-3. Will compete with the BMW 3 series, Audi A3, Lexus IS, and Acura ILX.
- Midsized 188 to 189 inch sedan (Sonata / Optima upscale type but a couple of inches shorter in length). Will compete with the Acura TLX, Audi A4, Infiniti G37 / Q40)
- Large 196 inch sedan (move the Genesis from Hyundai to Saab). Will compete with the BMW 5 series, Audi A6, Mercedes E class, and Acura RLX)
- Super Luxury large 203 to 205 inch sedan (K900 / Equus combination moved away from Hyundai and Kia). Will compete with the BMW 7 series, Audi A8, and Mercedes S class)
They can do something similar with SUVs and they can use the Genesis coupe for a 2 door model with a limited convertible available. So 4 sedans, 1 coupe, and 2-3 SUVs in the lineup.
\http://www.thecarconnection.com/news...+Connection%29
Since Saab is going under again I am thinking that Hyundai / Kia should buy the name and patents to use Saab as their luxury line. They can set it up with 3 levels:
Economy level - Kia
Mainstream level - Hyundai
Luxury level - Saab
They may need to move some models to Saab but can see this:
- entry level 182 inch sedan - Saab 9-3. Will compete with the BMW 3 series, Audi A3, Lexus IS, and Acura ILX.
- Midsized 188 to 189 inch sedan (Sonata / Optima upscale type but a couple of inches shorter in length). Will compete with the Acura TLX, Audi A4, Infiniti G37 / Q40)
- Large 196 inch sedan (move the Genesis from Hyundai to Saab). Will compete with the BMW 5 series, Audi A6, Mercedes E class, and Acura RLX)
- Super Luxury large 203 to 205 inch sedan (K900 / Equus combination moved away from Hyundai and Kia). Will compete with the BMW 7 series, Audi A8, and Mercedes S class)
They can do something similar with SUVs and they can use the Genesis coupe for a 2 door model with a limited convertible available. So 4 sedans, 1 coupe, and 2-3 SUVs in the lineup.
08-13-2014, 12:01 PM
#47
Fahrvergnügen'd
Saab has such specific attributes attached to it that I don't think anything those two brands produce would work. It's not that I don't think it's a good idea but rather that people assume Saabs are quirky turbocharged Swedish hatchbacks with crazy torque steer.
Or people have no idea what Saab is and the name means nothing to them.
Or people have no idea what Saab is and the name means nothing to them.
08-13-2014, 12:01 PM
#48
Team Owner
iTrader: (4)
Saab sucks.
08-13-2014, 12:35 PM
#49
I drive a Subata.
iTrader: (1)
So you want Hyundai/Kia to fail? Is that what you want!? 
08-13-2014, 01:09 PM
#50
I'm with the others. Don't see that working at all.
08-13-2014, 01:14 PM
#51
Bad idea, IMO. At this point, the Hyundai/Kia name has more value than the Saab name 
08-13-2014, 04:16 PM
#53
Welcome to Olliewood
Really hope it gets revived, though not through Kia/Hyundai. Obviously have a soft spot for Saab. It may have left me a puddle of oil every week, but still a great car while I had it.
08-13-2014, 04:19 PM
#55
Team Owner
Honda should buy it and use its turbo engines.
08-13-2014, 10:11 PM
#56
Senior Moderator
Merged with Saab financial news thread. 
08-14-2014, 08:32 AM
#57
I suggested Hyundai / Kia because....
Saab is considered a luxury vehicle in the US while Hyundai and Kia are main stgream but on the lower end. Yes the Equus and Genesis are nice cars but a BMW / Audi buyer is not usually going to switch badges to a Hyundai. A luxury buyer wants a luxury badge in a luxury dealership. The Equus buyer is going into the same dealership as the guy buying the sub 15k Accent. Same can be said for a K900 buyer in the same dealership as the sub 14k Rio buyer. At BMW and Audi the lowest priced vehicles are just over 30k. Saab has a good name and is considered luxury at a Volvo type level in the US.
To me they would just be buying the name and patents but not the debt or facilities. Hyundai / Kia need a luxury brand to compete with Acura, Lexus, Inifiniti, BMW, Audi, etc... since they have vehicles at this level but will struggle to get buyers to switch from a luxury brand to a luxury model in a mainstream brand.
Saab is considered a luxury vehicle in the US while Hyundai and Kia are main stgream but on the lower end. Yes the Equus and Genesis are nice cars but a BMW / Audi buyer is not usually going to switch badges to a Hyundai. A luxury buyer wants a luxury badge in a luxury dealership. The Equus buyer is going into the same dealership as the guy buying the sub 15k Accent. Same can be said for a K900 buyer in the same dealership as the sub 14k Rio buyer. At BMW and Audi the lowest priced vehicles are just over 30k. Saab has a good name and is considered luxury at a Volvo type level in the US.
To me they would just be buying the name and patents but not the debt or facilities. Hyundai / Kia need a luxury brand to compete with Acura, Lexus, Inifiniti, BMW, Audi, etc... since they have vehicles at this level but will struggle to get buyers to switch from a luxury brand to a luxury model in a mainstream brand.
08-14-2014, 11:11 AM
#58
Team Owner
In theory, you are correct.
But in reality, no one gives a shit about Saab, especially luxury brand buyers.
But in reality, no one gives a shit about Saab, especially luxury brand buyers.
08-14-2014, 11:51 AM
#59
Azine Jabroni
It seems obvious enough to be that if Hyundai were to develop a luxury line, it should capitalize on the value of its "Genesis" name. I'm not convinced that will happen either, though.
12-16-2015, 05:37 AM
#60
Race Director
NEVS claims 5 new Saab vehicles coming by 2018 | Autoweek
Saab: Remember them? Maker of quirky little Swedish cars with peppy turbo engines? Well, they’re back(ish), with help from parent company National Electric Vehicle Sweden. NEVS president Mattias Bergman said during Stora Bildagen, Sweden’s largest annual automotive conference, that a heavily upgraded version of the 9-3 will hit Chinese and Swedish markets in the first half of 2017, followed by four brand-new models in 2018 -- saabblog.net was there and says the company is reinventing itself to become “a supplier of sustainable mobility solutions.”
Earlier this year, NEVS announced a partnership with China’s Dongfeng, which will support the company on the construction of hybrid vehicle production and R&D in Tianjin. NEVS will use Dongfeng’s dealer network, as well. This was good news as far as financial stability goes for NEVS and Saab, though the fate of the famous Swedish name was still in doubt. Now, Swedish news site SVD is reporting that the company will be able to maintain the name, which is still being used by the defense and security arm of the Saab Group.
Current Saab owner National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) has just announced that it will license the Saab 9-3 technology to the Turkish government, which seeks to develop a "national car." ...
The new 9-3 will be built in Trollhattan and assembled in Tianjin. Bergman says the 9-3 will be more of a “mobility lab” to prove the concept before the new models are produced. The four upcoming cars will be based on the Phoenix platform that we heard about a few years ago. The lineup will consist of a family SUV, a crossover, a compact and a midsize, all with some form of electric powertrain.
NEVS will have an expected staff of 600 by the beginning of the year and an investment of several billion dollars. Bergman says its effort is “currently one of the largest industrial projects in Sweden.” He also says the company is hiring at the rate of 50 people a month, but it needs to be closer to 100.
For Saab fans, and car enthusiasts in general, this is all good news, even though, as of now, it only affects Sweden and China. Hopefully Saab, or NEVS, or whatever it’s eventually called, actually sells some cars, a much more difficult task than simply announcing a plan to sell some cars. Then maybe, just maybe, we’ll see some Swedish/Chinese hardware come stateside.
Earlier this year, NEVS announced a partnership with China’s Dongfeng, which will support the company on the construction of hybrid vehicle production and R&D in Tianjin. NEVS will use Dongfeng’s dealer network, as well. This was good news as far as financial stability goes for NEVS and Saab, though the fate of the famous Swedish name was still in doubt. Now, Swedish news site SVD is reporting that the company will be able to maintain the name, which is still being used by the defense and security arm of the Saab Group.
Current Saab owner National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) has just announced that it will license the Saab 9-3 technology to the Turkish government, which seeks to develop a "national car." ...
The new 9-3 will be built in Trollhattan and assembled in Tianjin. Bergman says the 9-3 will be more of a “mobility lab” to prove the concept before the new models are produced. The four upcoming cars will be based on the Phoenix platform that we heard about a few years ago. The lineup will consist of a family SUV, a crossover, a compact and a midsize, all with some form of electric powertrain.
NEVS will have an expected staff of 600 by the beginning of the year and an investment of several billion dollars. Bergman says its effort is “currently one of the largest industrial projects in Sweden.” He also says the company is hiring at the rate of 50 people a month, but it needs to be closer to 100.
For Saab fans, and car enthusiasts in general, this is all good news, even though, as of now, it only affects Sweden and China. Hopefully Saab, or NEVS, or whatever it’s eventually called, actually sells some cars, a much more difficult task than simply announcing a plan to sell some cars. Then maybe, just maybe, we’ll see some Swedish/Chinese hardware come stateside.
12-20-2015, 12:01 PM
#61
Azine Jabroni
Trollhattan?! SSTSX(whatever the heck other letters)'s home town!
12-11-2017, 11:50 AM
#62
Race Director
National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), which scooped up the production facilities and designs of Saab after GM shut the company down in 2012, plans to produce electric cars at the old Trollhattan plant in Sweden, Bloomberg reports. Currently owned by a Chinese company, NEVS plans to produce and market vehicles aimed at the Chinese and European markets under its own brand name rather than Saab. In addition, NEVS is currently in talks with the governments of Shanghai, Chengdu and Hangzhou about creating a second production facility in China, with the move aimed to satisfy the demand of the Chinese market for so-called "new energy vehicles," which include hybrids and electric cars.
"We are embracing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in the automobile industry with the adoption of new technologies moving forward way faster than we expected," company Chairman Kai Johan Jiang said in an interview with Bloomberg last week. "Car-sharing, electrification of automobiles and autonomous driving are the inevitable trend of future transport."
NEVS' rapid plans to restart production in Trollhattan have been linked to China's voracious demand for electric and hybrid vehicles, the production of which is expected to grow in the coming years due to the country's electric vehicle mandates. The automaker, one of 15 granted new-energy car production licenses by the Chinese goverment, already has orders for 300,000 vehicles from ride-sharing companies.NEVS will kick off production with the 9-3EV, based on the old Saab 9-3 with which the company restarted production in Trollhattan following Saab's closure in 2012. The automaker will also produce the 9-3EV in a plant in the Chinese city of Tianjin, which will have an initial capacity of 50,000 cars per year, but expects to dial this up to 220,000 cars by 2019.
The 9-3 itself is proving to be a design that just won't die; in addition to NEVS' use of the old 9-3 sedan platform, Turkey is currently engaged in a national car project in collaboration with NEVS that will also make use of some Saab hardware. The name of Turkey's national car has not been announced yet, but it is expected to debut in the next two years, and will be produced in Turkey for the European market.
Read more: Saab factory in Trollhattan, Sweden, will start producing electric cars for Europe and China
"We are embracing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in the automobile industry with the adoption of new technologies moving forward way faster than we expected," company Chairman Kai Johan Jiang said in an interview with Bloomberg last week. "Car-sharing, electrification of automobiles and autonomous driving are the inevitable trend of future transport."
NEVS' rapid plans to restart production in Trollhattan have been linked to China's voracious demand for electric and hybrid vehicles, the production of which is expected to grow in the coming years due to the country's electric vehicle mandates. The automaker, one of 15 granted new-energy car production licenses by the Chinese goverment, already has orders for 300,000 vehicles from ride-sharing companies.NEVS will kick off production with the 9-3EV, based on the old Saab 9-3 with which the company restarted production in Trollhattan following Saab's closure in 2012. The automaker will also produce the 9-3EV in a plant in the Chinese city of Tianjin, which will have an initial capacity of 50,000 cars per year, but expects to dial this up to 220,000 cars by 2019.
The 9-3 itself is proving to be a design that just won't die; in addition to NEVS' use of the old 9-3 sedan platform, Turkey is currently engaged in a national car project in collaboration with NEVS that will also make use of some Saab hardware. The name of Turkey's national car has not been announced yet, but it is expected to debut in the next two years, and will be produced in Turkey for the European market.
Read more: Saab factory in Trollhattan, Sweden, will start producing electric cars for Europe and China
12-13-2017, 03:43 AM
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