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Saab plant reopens, production to resume by year's end?

Saab is gearing up to start production of the 9-3 again in September, two years after the last exampled rolled off the assembly line at the company's Trollhättan factory, Aftonbladet reports. Saab's new owner, National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (NEVS), a Chinese-Japanese consortium created solely to buy Saab, says that the model's parts supply is the bottleneck in the production process, understandable since many of Saab's suppliers closed after it stopped production two years ago. The automaker also needs to establish a new dealership network. It is not entirely clear where Saab will market their new models, but North America is not expected to figure into their plans, at least initially.
Almost 400 factory employees are reportedly back working at Trollhättan, and Saab is looking to recruit 180 workers to help with production, presuming the factory can overcome its supply issues and go back online in the fall.
The new 9-3 is understood to be something short of an all-new car, a revision of the old 9-3 that started production in 2002. It will reportedly be offered initially as a four-door sedan and two-door convertible, and it will have a turbocharged engine, according to NEVS, which we expect will be a four cylinder. An electric 9-3 could come as early as next year. Turbocharged engines are part of Saab's DNA, NEVS Vice President Mattias Bergman has stated, and future Saab models will have them - despite the automaker's planned progression toward electric vehicles. The 9-3 will get small facelifts over time, says Mikael Östlund, a press officer at NEVS.

Saab 9-3 production has restarted

If you're one of the small cadre of Saab drivers, first of all, kudos to you. Because as Top Gear pointed out, Saab drivers are among the most intellectual drivers out there. Secondly, we've got good news for you, because the 9-3 has officially resumed production at the Trollhättan plant in Sweden.
For those of you who may not have followed the story, a quick refresher: Founded in 1947, Saab Automobile AB was an independent automaker until 1989 when General Motors began the decade-long process acquiring it. Unable to make it profitable, GM sold Saab to Spyker in 2010, but that Dutch automaker proved unable to make a go of it, either, and finally shut it down a year later. Much of Saab's assets were acquired by National Electric Vehicle Sweden, which in turn is partially owned by the Chinese city of Qingdao, which pledged to get production back online by the end of the year.
NEVS has apparently made good on its promise, bringing 600 workers back to the factory to resume production of the 9-3 much as it was when a workforce of 3,500 labored on it and its stablemates prior to the bankruptcy. The reborn 9-3 will be sold in Sweden and in China, with an electric version to bring some other updates sometime next year.

NEVS mulling electric Saab 9-3 convertible, looking for engine partners, too

Do you believe in reincarnation? Like how we hope that, maybe, all of our hard work as auto writers will result in an eventual return as a swarm of beautiful butterflies. If you are a Saab fan, the equivalent could be this bit of news: The 9-3 Convertible may rise again, as an electric vehicle.
Word comes from the Dutch version of Autoweek that Chinese entity National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) has indicated that it will bring an electric version of the 9-3 Convertible to market in the next 18 months. The EV droptop would first debut in the Chinese market, but could expand, as could the lineup to other 9-3 variants, such as the sedan and SportCombi. A NEVS spokesperson has stated, "NEVS basically no doors holds." We're not sure if that's the spokesperson or the translation from the Dutch report, but you get the gist.
NEVS also indicated that conventionally powered versions of the 9-3 could be produced as well. The internal combustion engines could be the originally intended General Motors engines. Regardless of powerplant, we would be very eager to see Saab return, potentially as an EV to boot!