Saab went bust a little over a decade ago and its remnants could meet a similar fate.
Last month, NEVS activated a “hibernation plan” as part of an effort to reduce costs and avoid bankruptcy. The company said that while they see opportunities for the future, their challenges are “unfortunately not temporary.”
As a result, NEVs plans to layoff 320 employees or nearly 95% of their workforce. When the cuts go into effect, the company will be down to approximately 20 employees.
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This won’t happen overnight and on February 23rd, NEVs said communication and negotiations with “corresponding labor unions are being held to give all our employees the support and legal advisory for all those impacted in a process that will be ongoing the following next six months.”
Interim NEVS CEO Nina Selander said it was with “great sadness” the company was going into “hibernation mode, meaning we will be forced to reduce all costs and suffer from layoffs in all company areas.” The executive, who took the top job just two days earlier, added “Our decision comes after our owners, Evergrande, and our investor prospects were unable to finalize negotiations accordingly to our contract.”
NEVS has had a rocky existence as the company acquired the assets of Saab Automobile in 2012 and resumed production approximately a year and a half later. The 9-3 eventually got an electric makeover and the company was planning to build up to 220,000 units in China annually. That never panned out and Evergrande took the reins in early 2019, although the company was looking to bail as early as 2021.
H/T to Autocar
