Saab to roll out electric cars in 2014

Bankrupt Swedish carmaker Saab plans to roll out new electric cars in 18 months, its buyer National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) said Monday.

NEVS, wholly owned by National Modern Energy Holdings Ltd.(NME Holdings) in Hong Kong, finalized its acquisition of the main assets of Saab Automobile, Saab Automobile Powertrain and Saab Automobile Tools, effective August 31, NEVS's CEO Kai Johan Jiang announced in Beijing Monday.

The engineering and development of the first electric vehicle has been underway in China and Japan for some time and now with Saab's manufacturing facilities, the development work could be continued at the Saab plant, he said.

"In approximately 18 months, we plan to introduce our first electric vehicle based on Saab 9-3 technologies and a new technology electric powertrain," Karl-Erling Trogen, NEVS's chairman, said in a statement.

NME Holdings, whose founder and principal owner is Chinese Swedish Kai Johan Jiang, is the majority owner of Sate Power Group, a Beijing-based private enterprise that pioneers renewable energy in China.

NEVS also said that it has signed a licensing agreement with Saab regarding the rights to use the Saab brand name, but the present logo will not be used.

Saab could get reborn as the acquisition brought together Saab's car production platforms and technology, Japan's leading powertrain and battery technologies and China's huge market, Jiang said.

Saab, which was struggling amid the global financial crisis despite its advanced technology, was trapped in a worsening situation in 2011 as its production in Trollhattan, western Sweden, stopped and wage payments were late for months. Sweden's Vanersborgs District Court approved its bankruptcy petition in December 2011.