The SAAB logo on the first production Nevs (National Electric Vehicle Sweden) Saab 9-3 Aero at the Trollhattan factory in Sweden, Monday, Dec. 2, 2013.
Two and a half years after Saab shut down production due to financial trouble, the Swedish car rolled a new sedan off its assembly lines in Trollhattan, in southwest Sweden.
National Electric Vehicle Sweden, the Hong Kong-based company that bought the brand out of bankruptcy in September last year, presented
its new 9-3 Aero Sedan as the first in a series of new cars it will produce.
The company, also called NEVS, said the first 200 cars will be delivered in the spring and will cost 279,000 kronor ($52,000) each. Next year, it will also launch a 9-3 wagon, followed by convertible and electric models.
Saab shut down production in April 2011 after six decades of building cars as its earlier Dutch owner, Spyker Cars, struggled with financing. It filed for bankruptcy in December the same year, dealing a huge blow to the town of Trollhattan and the company's 3000 employees.
NEVS now employs around 600 people, including many former Saab employees, and acting president Mattias Bergman said he felt "incredibly happy, proud and humble" that the company has been able to restart production.
