It’s been a while since a Saab rumour surfaced
So, here’s one arriving now. But no, sorry, it’s no less vaguely related to a physical return by the muchmissed Swedish brand than pretty much any other similar scuttlebutt issued over the five years.
And it’s only tangentially related to Saab. But bear with us.
A few years back, National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) purchased Saab, promising that it would take the already slightly creaky Saab 9-3 and remake it as an electric car for the Swedish and Chinese markets. It was going to be built in China and as a precursor, a concept car surfaced, which effectively appeared to be a tarted-up 9-3 with a NEVS badge on the bonnet.
Unfortunately, that was pretty much it. Things went quiet. Another Saab revival rumour (possibly the most likely one in years) was put to bed.
However, memories of all that Swedish palaver surfaced this week when British motoring outlet Autocar reported that NEVS not only still exists as a going concern, but has now turned its attention on another Scandi car brand; Koenigsegg.
NEVS has apparently purchased a 20 per cent stake in the low-volume supercar manufacturer and plans to take another 45 per cent further down the track. The plan — and this will start to sound familiar now — is to partner with it to build electric vehicles.
As in, electric Koenigsegg supercars? We’re not sure, but NEVS has stated it wants to use Koenigsegg’s expertise, while the supercar-builder’s boss has said the deal will ensure the viability of the brand.
It sounds like NEVS has a shiny new toy, then. But it’s not Saab. Unless of course it plans to develop robustly performing electric hardware in a low-volume supercar bodyshell for the world’s elite, before taking the battery system and platform and reshaping it for a mass-market Saab EV?
You didn’t hear it here first.