What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. At least that’s what Juliet tells Romeo in the renowned play. However, even if the executives of NEVS (National Electric Vehicle Sweden), Saab Automobile’s new owners, are avid Shakespeare readers, they still wanted the Saab name along with the rest of the brand.
Last we heard, they were negotiating with Saab AB, the aerospace company and Scania AB, which own the rights to both the name and the logo of the automotive company.
On Monday, however, NEVS announced that is has completed the acquisition of Saab Automobile AB, Saab Automobile Powertrain AB and Saab Automobile Tools AB, IP rights for the Phoenix platform and the Saab 9-3, the Trollhättan manufacturing plant and test and laboratory facilities, effective August 31, for an undisclosed amount of money.
“The efforts to implement our business plan can now be multiplied, focused on the development of a world-class electric vehicle in Trollhättan”, said NEVS chairman Karl-Erling Trogen.
NEVS also revealed that it has signed a licensing agreement with Saab AB to use the Saab brand name on its vehicles, but noted that it didn’t receive the rights to the famous Griffin logo.
The company’s CEO Kai Johan Jian added that the engineering for the firm’s first electric-vehicle continues in Japan and China: “With the manufacturing facilities at our possession, we are able to continue development work in site at Trollhättan.”
The timetable is rather tight, though. “In approximately 18 months, we plan to introduce our first electric vehicle based on Saab 9-3 technologies and a new technology electric powertrain,” said Trogen “I would like to express our gratitude and thanks to the receivers for their cooperation during this very complex process.”
To quote Shakespeare once again, all is well that ends well. The Chinese-Japanese consortium got all it wanted except the griffin badge.
If you have any suggestions what the new Saab logo should look like, head over to the comments section to tell or perhaps even show us with an image.
By Andrew Tsaousis
PHOTO GALLERY
