Saab as a car manufacturer had exceptional highs and exceptional lows; the Turbo became an icon alongside the slant nose 911 with a more niche following, but as the Swedish brand came under General Motors ownership in the noughties, it began to offer a more mundane lineup of Saloons and Estates, some came with rather powerful engines. Notably, top of line 9-3 models are rather appealing sporting offerings like the 9-3 Aero, which brought a Swedish menace to the roads, especially when in black.
The 9-5 updated the brand's best-selling vehicle but did little for sales and so in 2010, it found its way to ownership by Spyker. before they sold to NEVS, an acronym for National Electric Vehicle Sweden. NEVS rose out of Saab's ashes acquiring the rights to use Saabs designs for their cars as well as owning their manufacturing facilities. But the NEVS deal wasn't as simple as it seemed, behind the new owners was a large Chinese conglomerate called Evergrande and they've run into financial issues.
The Saab name won't see the light of day but what it left behind is changing hands.
Conglomerates In The Car Industry
The automotive industry is no stranger to large conglomerates owning multiple brands and nearing monopolies. Saab's old owners, General Motors, are a brilliant example of this as they've owned Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Dodge for the longest time. It wasn't even particularly remarkable for Saab to be picked up by a Chinese company with SAIC having acquired MG and fellow Swedish brand Volvo having come under Geely's ownership.
The BBC reported on Evergrande, writing that the giant has 1,300 real estate projects in China as well as dabbling "in wealth management, making electric cars and food and drink manufacturing. It even owns one of the country's biggest football teams - Guangzhou FC". The BBC continues to say that to fund the firm's rapid expansion, it borrowed $300 billion, which it is now struggling to pay back to its creditors.
Last month Reuters reported that "Evergrande has already missed three rounds of interest payments on its international bonds, and has been scrambling to sell some of its assets to raise cash", the same article suggests that the company was considering selling only the parts of their automotive brand in Sweden but news over the last week is suggesting that the sale will be much larger.
NEVS Was A Failure
In the wake of the success of Volvo and MG's rebirth as profitable and perhaps even cool car manufacturers, it would seem like any failing western brand when it received financial help from a Chinese firm was destined to succeed, but NEVS is a testament against this. The Drive report that NEVS sold 420 Saab 9-3s between 2013 and 2014 before production was shut down, this failure resulted in a legal battle that took the right to use the Saab name away from NEVS.
According to Electrek, the new company's production plant moved to Tianjin in 2018 to start production of NEVS branded Saab 9-3s using a drivetrain that has modified the car into being an Electric Vehicle. According to Reuters, because of these low sale figures Evergrande have held talks with the Xiaomi consortium who primarily focus on Smartphones to take over their stake in NEVS. In Reuters report, this meeting was held to get Evergrande's debts in control.
State regulators are breathing down the conglomerate's neck to reduce their outgoings, and the NEVS firm doesn't look to be anywhere near profitable. In 2017 Inside EVs reported that as NEVS were testing their 9-3 based vehicle, they had received 150,000 pre-orders.
Sales of New Energy Vehicles, also abbreviated as NEV, saw a recent sales spike of 141% in China according to the Global Times, despite overall sales decreasing. However in 2020 Auto Car reported on NEVS Sango an inner-city shuttle that would take over production at the Swedish plant in Trollhättan, such a drastic change in direction wouldn't surely come after recent sales success.
Saab For Sale Again
Jalopnik described Evergrande as imploding, which makes perfect sense. The company rapidly expanded and can't sustain itself, to survive it must shrink and become sustainable.
The BBC asked the question if they were simply "too big to fail" if they collapse, an impact will be felt around the world, and there is potential for a Swedish Electric Vehicle, Volvo's Polestar has successfully proven this. However, just because NEVS may find itself under new ownership over the coming months doesn't mean that Saabs will be entering production anytime soon.
Throughout the twentieth century, Saab marketed their cars off their relationship with Saab AB the aeronautical wing, their mantra "Nothing On Earth Comes Close" was one of the most successful advertising campaigns in automotive history. It was reported by Automotive News Europe that Saab AB withdrew NEVS right to use the Saab name on their vehicles, the waning prospects of the brand's cars gave the defense manufacturer a negative image.
The Saab 9-3 ceased production under the Saab name in 2014, two years after it was bankrupt, which was also two years after it entered administration in the fall out of the global financial crash in 2007 with such a string of bad luck it is unlikely that the Saab name would be allowed onto the public market again after such high profile failures and a resurgent Volvo but the pieces left behind will likely find themselves in new hands.