Saab’s new owner, National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), has built two Saab 9-3 test cars at the brand’s Trollhattan assembly plant in Sweden ahead of a production launch later this year. The vehicles, which left the production line on Wednesday, are the first Saab models to be built at the plant since it closed in April 2011 ahead of the automaker filing for bankruptcy eight months later. NEVS say the cars are primarily intended to assist in calibrating production line systems and to test new components ahead of full production.
“Prior to our decision to start production of Saab cars, we need to finalize a few remaining dialogues to build partnerships with suppliers. We now know that the plant is ready for production,” Mattias Bergman, acting president of NEVS said in a recent statement.
NEVS plans to start output of the 9-3 powered by a gasoline turbocharged engine later this year. The model will be very similar to last Saab produced in 2011. An electric variant planned for production in 2014 will feature a new facelifted exterior, Oestlund said. Future Saab cars will not have the distinctive griffin head badge seen on previous Saabs after NEVS failed to acquire the rights to use the badge when it bought Saab out of bankruptcy last August.
