The story of Saab has taken a lot of twists and turns since it filed for bankruptcy in 2011, with a Chinese company called National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) acquiring most of its assets including the storied factory in Trollhattan, Sweden. Despite many efforts, plans to restart production and turn it into a fully electric automaker never materialized.

The latest reports are not good either, as according to Reuters, the current owner, Evergrande Group, is going through a financial crisis and is reportedly interested to sell NEVS.

Read Also: Evergrande’s $87 Billion Valuation Surpasses GM And Ford Despite Never Having Sold A Vehicle

Evergrande Group is one of the largest real estate companies and property developers in China. However, a record number of legal cases against the real erestate giant in recent years have forced it to search for funds in order to pay off part of its debts that are surpassing the $100 billion mark. This is why the company is trying to sell its automotive business, including NEVS that was fully acquired by Evergrande in 2020 after acquiring a 51% controlling stake in 2019.

Read Also: Smartphone Giant Xiaomi Wants To Build Electric Cars With The Help Of Great Wall

Reuters says that Xiaomi and Shenzhen state-backed investment firms are interested in buying the automotive sector of Evergrande Group, since the technology company wants to produce electric vehicles. However, even this rumored deal materializes, it won’t necessarily mean that we are going to see Saab vehicles driving around. Evergrande’s structure is a lot more complex than you might assume with many different companies under its umbrella.

According to its CEO, Evergrand Group wanted to become the world’s largest electric car manufacturer. This is why besides NEVS, it bought stakes in Faraday Future, and battery-maker CENAT, while investing in supercar manufacturer Koenigsegg, and started a new electric car company called Hengchi. The latter announced a bunch of upcoming models in the Shanghai Auto Show back in April 2021, when Evergrande was evaluated at $87 billion despite not having sold a single vehicle yet. If you want our opinion, Hengchi could be the most plausible candidate for moving on into the future after a possible acquisition by a new owner.

It Failed To Launch A Saab-Based EV

Back to NEVS, after a failed effort to restart production of an electric sedan based on the Saab 9-3 in 2017, the company tried again in 2019 at the Tianjin plant in China. Despite the optimistic initial reports, no cars have been seen to come out of the factory yet. What makes this even more suspicious is that besides the collaboration with Koenigsegg aiming to expand in other market segments, NEVS is also helping the German EV startup Sono Motors with the upcoming production of their Sion van scheduled to begin in 2022 in Trollhättan, Sweden.

See Also: NEVS Launches Sango Autonomous Vehicle As Part Of New Mobility Ecosystem

Last but not least, we shouldn’t forget the NEVS Sango concept car which was unveiled in 2020 by NEVS, as a fully autonomous shuttle. This model was aiming to become the robotaxi of the future, with a possible production in the Trollhättan factory after a fleet of 10 vehicles completes its pilot program in Stockholm.