#Saab9-3

The Saab nameplate may not be dead in the automotive market. 

Are financial problems brewing again for Swedish automaker Saab?

Production of the 2014 Saab 9-3 has officially commenced at the Swedish automaker’s plant in Trollhattan.

Saab‘s production has resumed at the Swedish automaker’s Trollhattan plant as a prototype 9-3 sedan has rolled off the assembly line.

In a little less than two years since it filed for bankruptcy, Swedish automaker Saab is back on track, hoping to restart production later this year.

National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), the new rightful owners of  Saab, might hasten its relaunch plans by resurrecting the 9-3 model in conventional gasoline form next year.

Saab‘s new owners, National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), is looking forward to resurrecting the brand, and one model under consideration is a 9-3 convertible electric vehicle.

The saga of Saab‘s bankruptcy seems to be never ending, but that hasn’t dampened the spirits of Saab enthusiasts. The last Saab 9-3 Griffin is scheduled to come off the production line at the end of this month, and SaabsUnited is hoping to purchase the vehicle and place it at the Saab Cars Museum.

The future of Swedish automaker Saab is still up in the air, but that hasn’t dampened the spirits of Saab enthusiasts that still love their cars. Flash Engineering has just unveiled the 9-3 TTA race car that will compete in the Swedish Racing Elite League this year.

Though Youngman’s attempts to save Saab proved futile, it appears that the Chinese automaker isn’t giving up on Saab-related assets. Youngman announced that they’ve acquired the rights to Saab’s Phoenix vehicle architecture and also announced that they have intentions of setting up a firm in Sweden to develop a new car based on the Phoenix platform.

According to Inside Line, Saab may be ready to re-start production at its factories in as little as 8 weeks, after being sold to two Chinese automakers for $142 million.

Make way for the new winners! Let’s give the Saab 9-5 and the Volkswagen CC three cheers for earning their places as IIHS Top Safety Pick award winners.

Somewhere, somehow, we think Samuel Hubinette may have something to do with this crazy Viper-powered Saab 9-3. Hubinette, known as “The Crazy Swede” and campaigned a Dodge Viper in many successful bouts of tandem drifting in his days, so it’d only make sense that this Saab 9-3 with a Viper V-10 would have to do with him. But alas, it has absolutely nothing to do with the drifter and apparently there’s a crazier Swede out there.

Saab’s attempt at selling off assets to a Russian financial magnate Vladimir Antonov has stalled after the European Investment Bank told the Swedish auto maker to essentially find a new partner within a set time frame.

Saab and German parts manufacturer ZF will establish a new facility in Saab’s hometown of Trolhattan, Sweden, that will build suspension components for their upcoming Phoenix platform cars, one of which will be the next 9-3 sedan.

The plant, which will employ 50 people, will produce front subframes and rear axles for the new cars. The Phoenix platform will likely underpin Saab’s entire new car range, and takes its roots from the competent GM Epsilon platform, which underpins most of their mid-size front-drive vehicles sold today.

[Source: Saab]

Press release below the jump