Skip to main content

Not dead yet: Saab owners NEVS gets approval for a factory in China

Saab 9-3
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Saab may be gone, but one of its last cars refuses to die.

National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) bought Saab’s assets in 2012 after the Swedish automaker declared bankruptcy, and has been trying to get an electric version of the Saab 9-3 into production ever since. Now the company has permission to build a factory in China, where many of its backers are from.

NEVS was granted a license by the Chinese National Development Reform Commission, which is required to manufacture electric cars in the country, according to a NEVS press release. Construction at the factory site in Tianjin has already begun, and NEVS hopes to start production by the end of the year. At full capacity, NEVS claims the factory will be able to build 200,000 cars a year.

Initially, NEVS plans to build electric versions of the 9-3. This sedan was built by Saab in 2011, and since then NEVS has built a handful of 9-3s at the former Saab factory in Trollhättan, Sweden, including at least one prototype of the electric version. The 9-3 is based on a design that first went into production in 2003, which makes it pretty outdated by industry standards. But NEVS already has an order lined up.

It will follow up on a deal with Panda New Energy first announced in December 2015 for 150,000 electric cars. Panda New Energy is a fleet company that leases cars, primarily to chauffeur services. It’s one of many companies in China created primarily to take advantage of generous government incentives for electric cars. Panda New Energy has said it will make a second purchase of 100,000 cars from NEVS at some point after the first order is filled.

These cars probably won’t be sold as Saabs. The Saab logo was not included in the assets NEVS purchased after the bankruptcy, and it lost the rights to the Saab name after a round of financial trouble in 2014. The company is at least getting lots of mileage out of the 9-3: it also licensed the design to Turkey for production there.

Stephen Edelstein
Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…
The Kia EV3 could be the cheap electric SUV we’ve been waiting for
White Kia EV3

The Kia EV9 was already one of the cheapest ways to get an electric SUV, but now the company is taking things to the next level. After teasing the Kia EV3 last year, the car is now official.

The EV3 is built to be a slightly smaller, cheaper version of the EV9 -- following the path of the Rivian R2, which arrived after the Rivian R1S. It's certainly not as technologically advanced as the EV9, but it still looks unmistakably like a modern Kia, and is clearly a sibling of the larger SUV. On the outside, the vehicle has the same split taillights and very similar Tiger Face front. But it is quite a bit smaller. The vehicle will be available in nine finishes -- however only "Aventurine Green" and "Terracotta" are being announced right now.

Read more
Kia EV3: release date, performance, range, and more
White Kia EV3

Kia is on a roll. Hot on the heels of the success of the Kia EV6 and EV9, the company is already announcing what could be its cheapest electric vehicle yet -- the Kia EV3.

The Kia EV line seems to follow the rule of lower numbers indicating a lower price — and if so, the EV3 will end up being the cheapest electric car Kia has released to date. That, however, thankfully doesn’t mean that the EV3 will be a low-end car — it just means that Kia may be pushing the boundaries on electric car pricing.

Read more
Kia EV3 vs Tesla Model Y: Can Kia’s new entry-level car take on Tesla?
White Kia EV3

The Kia EV3 is finally coming, and it could well end up being the best small-size electric SUV to buy when it finally rolls out. It's smaller than the Kia EV9, but it offers many of the same design elements and features. But there's another small-size electric car that's currently one of the most popular vehicles out there -- the Tesla Model Y.

How does the Kia EV3 compare with the Tesla Model Y? And is one vehicle actually better than the other? We put the Kia EV3 and the Tesla Model Y head-to-head to find out.
Design
The design of the Kia EV3 is very different than that of the Model Y, though they're both reasonably good-looking vehicles.

Read more