After resuming very low volume production of the 9-3 earlier this year, Volvo’s Saab’s new owners called National Electric Vehicle Sweden (or NEVS) have announced they are ceasing building it due to money troubles. Apparently, there’s an outstanding debt they need to pay and there’s no cash in the bank to pay it; the maximum production figure they reached in this short time span was six cars per day.
According to Reuters, the problem stems from the fact that part-owner Quingbo Investment from China, which holds 22 percent of stocks, has not held up its end of the financial arrangement.
An official statement issued by the company read the following: “NEVS is therefore making a temporary and controlled halt of production, which hitherto has been six cars per day, and is reducing agency staff.”
A spokesman for NEVS went on to add that “Qingbo hasn’t terminated the deal, they say they will complete it. But we haven’t received the financing they had agreed with our main owner.”
Meanwhile, NEVS said it was in talks with an actual automaker for a cooperation deal, yet it did not mention who this new party was.
Their most recent release confirms this:
“Nevs has recently signed a frame agreement with a major international automotive OEM regarding the cooperation in product development of the future platform. A negotiation with another major automotive OEM is also taking place regarding part ownership. The objective is to add significant resources to the development of Saab as a global premium car brand name. The partnerships will contribute to secure NEVS with the right financial and technical support to develop new products and distribution of cars on a global basis.”
By Andrei Nedelea
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