Reborn Saab brand about to go bust – again

The new owners of defunct Swedish car-maker Saab are approaching bankruptcy for the second time in less than a decade, expected to result in more than 300 job cuts, according to overseas reports.

UK publication Autocar reports Saab’s Chinese-Japanese parent company, National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), has been placed into “hibernation mode”.

“With great sadness, today we inform you that NEVS will now go under hibernation mode, meaning we will be forced to reduce all costs and suffer from layoffs in all company areas,” NEVS interim CEO Nina Selander told Autocar.

“Our decision comes after our owners Evergrande and our investor prospects were unable to finalise negotiations accordingly to our contract.”

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While US car giant General Motors had owned Saab since 2000, GM's bankruptcy amid the Global Financial Crisis in 2009 sparked years of uncertainty for the company as it passed through multiple owners – and yet another bankruptcy in December 2011.

NEVS took control of Saab in June 2012, restarting production of the 9-3 Aero in December 2013, but sales failed to take off. 

In August 2014, NEVS entered administration and the Saab Group – the defence company and former owner of the car-maker – withdrew the rights for the firm to use the Saab name.

According to Autocar, NEVS has been using Saab’s former main factory in Trollhättan, Sweden to develop electric and autonomous cars in recent years with a team of 340 employees. The impending bankruptcy will reportedly lead to approximately 320 redundancies.

Saab enthusiast publication Saab Planet reported NEVS had secured a new owner in January 2023, though this deal appears to have fallen through.

Despite being out of business for more than a decade, Taiwanese company Scandinavia Asia Corporation (SAC) has built multiple showrooms and service centres which are dedicated to the Swedish brand, the most recent of which opened in November 2021.

Saab Australia was officially placed into voluntary administration in January 2013, which resulted in the closure of its Port Melbourne office.

The Saab name continues to operate globally, working as a defence and aerospace company – developing fighter jets, submarines and anti-tank weapons.

According to Saab’s website, its Australian defence arm employs 700 people across six office locations.