Is Saab Coming Back With a New EV? Here’s What We Know

A new electric car may see Saab revived, at least in spirit.

Published July 31, 2023

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The Swedish car brand Saab was a favorite of automotive enthusiasts. It earned a cult following for producing interesting cars with quirky aerodynamic designs and punchy turbocharged engines. GM invested in the 1990s and bought the brand outright in 2000. Saab became a casualty of the GM bankruptcy in the late 2000s.

Subsequent Saab revival attempts have not gotten off the ground. But Saab’s successor NEVS unveiled an exciting new electric car concept, the Emily GT, earlier this year. And it appears new ownership may be putting the Emily GT into production.

Here’s what we know right now.

What happened to Saab?

It’s complicated. Briefly … GM sold Saab to Spyker N.V. as part of its post-financial crisis bankruptcy proceedings. GM held onto the patents that it agreed to provide on license to Spyker. Spyker’s version of Saab went bankrupt after failing to negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement with Chinese backers and GM. Chinese investors purchased Saab’s assets and set up NEVS AB (New Electric Vehicle Sweden).

NEVS began producing a version of the Saab 9-3 sedan but shut production down in 2014. The giant Chinese company Evergrande became majority shareholder in NEVS in 2019.

And NEVS got bought by yet-to-be-named investors?

Sort of. Evergrande has been having some notable financial difficulties and is selling off assets. An unnamed investor appears to have bought the IP for NEVS’s Emily GT electric car and Pons robotaxi project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch

What is the Emily GT?

NEVS developed an electric car prototype, the Emily GT, while the company was in trouble. The company released the full details to help attract investors. In Saab style, it has some quirky, potentially cool features. It’s not that far off the sort of thing one would expect Saab to be working on now if the company had stayed solvent.

The Emily GT has a quad-motor system at each wheel that puts out 480 combined horsepower and should offer sporty handling with its torque-vectoring potential. And it would purportedly be at or near the top-range EV on the market, potentially producing more than 500 miles of EPA range with a massive 175kWh battery pack — closer to vehicles like the Hummer EV SUT and Silverado EV than most cars on the road.

emily gt concept interior facing forward from the rear of the car

And the Emily GT is going to be built?

That appears to be the case. The Swedish owner of Saab’s former Stallbacka factory in Trollhättan, Sweden, said that the new Emily GT investor is planning to use a significant part of the factory for the project with “full activity” beginning this fall. Polestar announced plans to lease part of the same facility for development and testing back in April.

emily gt concept taillight closeup from side

Will the new investor use the Saab name?

That’s not clear yet. The Saab AB aerospace and defense company sold the motoring division completely to GM in 2000, allowing GM to use the Saab name and emblem under license. Saab AB revoked the naming rights back in 2014. We don’t know whether the new ownership wants to revive that name. But it’s possible it could be renegotiated if the new investor were so inclined.