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Saab Now Only Producing Electric Cars
The Evolution of Saab: After Filing For Bankruptcy, Iconic Swedish Company Now Only Producing Electric Cars
By Climate Guest Blogger on Jun 15, 2012 at 11:32 am
Saab, the Swedish automaker left for dead after being jettisoned by General Motors in 2010, has been purchased by National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS). The company plans to turn Saab into an electrical vehicle maker.
NEVS is owned by Kai Johan Jiang a Chinese entrepreneur educated in Sweden, and Sun Investments, a Japanese company. The plan, according to NEVS is to “meld Swedish car design and manufacturing know-how with Japanese electric vehicle technology to promote premium electric vehicles in China.”
The goal, according to comments made Wednesday at the announcement of the purchase, is to design an electric vehicle for sale in China based on the existing Saab 9-3 small sedan platform using Japanese-made batteries. The car would go on sale in late 2013 or early 2014. Meanwhile, a team of roughly 200 designers — far fewer than the 3,000 employees Saab employed until recently — would be working in Trollhatan, Sweden, site of the Saab factory, on an entirely new vehicle.
Some analysts have questioned the acquisition, particularly the use of the 9-3 as the model for the first electric car:
But the shift for Saab is an illustration of the broad changes that car companies are....
By Climate Guest Blogger on Jun 15, 2012 at 11:32 am
Saab, the Swedish automaker left for dead after being jettisoned by General Motors in 2010, has been purchased by National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS). The company plans to turn Saab into an electrical vehicle maker.
NEVS is owned by Kai Johan Jiang a Chinese entrepreneur educated in Sweden, and Sun Investments, a Japanese company. The plan, according to NEVS is to “meld Swedish car design and manufacturing know-how with Japanese electric vehicle technology to promote premium electric vehicles in China.”
The goal, according to comments made Wednesday at the announcement of the purchase, is to design an electric vehicle for sale in China based on the existing Saab 9-3 small sedan platform using Japanese-made batteries. The car would go on sale in late 2013 or early 2014. Meanwhile, a team of roughly 200 designers — far fewer than the 3,000 employees Saab employed until recently — would be working in Trollhatan, Sweden, site of the Saab factory, on an entirely new vehicle.
Some analysts have questioned the acquisition, particularly the use of the 9-3 as the model for the first electric car:
“Because of the challenges of battery capacity, most electric cars were small and designed for city driving, while the Saab 9-3 was a midsize car, something that could leave it with a short driving range in its usual environment.”
But the shift for Saab is an illustration of the broad changes that car companies are....
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/06/15/500060/the-evolution-of-saab-after-filing-for-bankruptcy-iconic-swedish-company-now-only-producing-electric-cars/
3 replies
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