National Electric Vehicles Sweden (NEVS), a Chinese-owned company, acquired the SAAB brand from bankruptcy in 2012. The entity itself ran into financial troubles in 2014 when the Chinese shareholder, Qingbo Investment stopped providing working capital. In 2014 Mahindra from India acquired the majority shareholding in the company enabling 100 SAAB 9-3 EV’s stuck on the production line to be completed. In 2016 the company announced a $1 billion transaction to supply Chinese aerospace company Volinco with 20,000 Saab 9-3’s as a fleet for its staff. The transaction will be over three years, beginning in 2017. The company earlier announced an agreement with Panda New Energy, a Chinese company to supply it with 150,000 Saab 9-3’s, worth $12 billion. NEVS announced in June 2016 that it will not use the SAAB trademark any longer.
The Chinese shareholder in NEVS Chinese shareholder Guoneng Electric Vehicle Sweden Corporation is Guoneng New Energy Automobile Corporation. The Guoneng New Energy Automobile Corporation has invested three billion yuan ($483.9 billion) in the production facility in the Tianjin Binhai Innovative and High-Technology Area. The project is expected to be completed in the first half of 2016 and go into operation in 2017.
Evergrande Health held its strategy meeting and is setting its sights on being the largest and most powerful electric vehicle group in five years. Evergrand said that its research and manufacturing base in Trollhättan, Sweden, has reached mass production capacity. Its Chinese operations in Tianjin base is scheduled to be fully operational in June this year, while its planning additional capacity in Shanghai and Guangzhou to reach a total capacity of 500,000 to 1 million units in three years. According to Evergrande’s strategy, it will launch a full range of multi-brand products including entry-level, mid-to-high-end, luxury, and ultra-luxury electric cars, SUVs, and MPVs.
Chinese automakers seem to have a thing for
Swedish car brands. Shortly after announcing that Evergreen has become
the majority shareholder in the old SAAB Automobile, now called NEVS, the company acquired a stake in Swedish supercar brand Koenigsegg. The strategic partnership consists of a
€150 million investment in a joint venture with Koenigsegg to develop
electric vehicles. NEVS is the major shareholder in the joint venture
with a 65% ownership. Koenigsegg will pay for its 35% shareholding
through contributing its intellectual property, technology licenses, and
product design. NEVS also acquired a 20% direct shareholding in
Koenigsegg through a capital injection of €150 million NEVS Chairman Kai Johan Jiang was quoted
saying “Koenigsegg is an enticing company developing advanced cars with
unique technology and with a customer base that is one of a kind. To be
able to expand our investment in the Swedish automotive industry through
a company that we know and have an established relationship with is an
important step for us. We have both competencies and facilities to
support Koenigsegg on their journey forward, something we look very much
forward to.” According to Koenigsegg the strategic
partnership will enable the development of parallel vehicle models in
slightly higher volumes with emphasis on electrification, as well as
strengthening growth opportunities in the hypercar segment. Koenigsegg will have access to NEVS
production facilities in Trollhättan, Sweden while maintaining its
center of excellence in Ängelholm. NEVS capacity in China also opens
opportunities for Koenigsegg in the Chinese market as NEVS major
shareholder Evergrande also has a wide distribution platform through its
ownership in one of China’s largest car retailers. Ironically Koenigsegg was one of the failed bidders for SAAB
Automobile when NEVS acquired it in 2011. Koenigsegg has dabbled with
electrification and equipped its Regera supercar with its
revolutionary Koenigsegg Direct Drive transmission (KDD) which
incorporates a hybrid system with three electric motors and a 4.7kWh
battery.
The Chinese owned NEVS which acquired the bankrupt Swedish automaker
SAAB this week got a new owner as Evergrande Group of China acquired 51%
of the struggling automaker keeping the Chinese healthcare company’s
electric car aspirations alive. In the newsletter of Week 1/2019,
I reported on the agreement reached between Evergrande, a Fortune
Global 500 company, and FF, where FF entered into an agreement whereby
it could buy-back the Evergrande 31% shareholding within a five-year
period. Evergrande came to the rescue of FF mid-2018 but FF founder Jia
Yueting soon had a legal fallout with its white knight. Now, Evergrand
which is owned by Hui Ka Yan once ranked (2017) the richest person in
China invested $930 million (€816 million) in NEVS for the 51% share
valuing the company at nearly $2 billion. NEVS has been delaying the
launch of the electrified SAAB 9-3 since it initially planning it’s
listing in 2017. The NEVS opened the books to pre-order the 9-3 EV in
December 2018 for ¥169,800. NEVS is in the process of developing its
third plant in Shanghai, which follows on a recent 50,000 unit plant
constructed Tianjin and the original SAAB plant in Trollhättan, Sweden.
The original founder of NEVS, Kai Johan Jiang, with his company, NE
Holding, will retain 49% of NEVS AB.
GSR Capital, a Chinese private-equity company, will invest $500 million in National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS)
through a convertible loan. The funds will be used to build a battery
assembly line at NEVS plant in Trollhattan, Sweden. The plant will have a
capacity of between 400,000 and 500,000 battery packs per annum.
The success rate for Chinese start-ups announcing the release of a new
EV to physical production has been rather dismal if one considers names
like Youxia and Faraday Future. This week, however, saw the start of production by NEVS
of its 186 miles (300km) NEVS 9-3 model, a reborn SAAB 9-3, at the
company’s Tianjin facility in China. NEVS which acquired SAAB in 2012
has been dogged with financial troubles from inception with a revolving
door of investors which included Mahindra.
Typical to many early EV start-up’s in China the company announced huge
contracts for the supply of EVs in 2016 long before securing production
capabilities. However, NEVS persisted and early in 2017 became one of
only 15 companies
with a permit to produce EVs in China. The Tianjin facility has a
capacity of 50,000 units which will increase to 220,000 by 2019. The
company also plans to start production at a plant in Trollhättan Sweden
in the second half of 2018.
The Chinese equivalent to Uber and Lyft, DiDi Chuxing this week finalized a strategic partnership with NEVS to
develop an electric vehicle fully optimized for the mobility services
provided by ridesharing companies such as DiDi. DiDi recently estimated
that there would be more than one million EVs on its platform by 2020.
Stefan Tilk, the CEO and President of NEVS (previously SAAB), said:
“With DiDi actively taking part in the design and development phase, we
will make sure that the vehicles will be fully adapted for the needs of
our customer.” The result of the strategic partnership will already be
available in the upcoming release of the NEVS 9-3, expected in 2018.
Chinese automotive parts supplier, Beijing Zhonghuan Automotive Parts Co., Ltd, injected $108 million in NEVS, making the Beijing based company a co-owner according to SAAB Blog page, saabplanet.com.
Swedish-based mobility company NEVS launches a city mobility pilot program with support from Tianjin Binhai Hi-tech Industrial Development Area (THT).
The program offers car-sharing and ride-hailing solutions in Tianjin
city, with 15 million inhabitants. The users will get access to all NEVS 9-3 EV series.
With this green technology collaboration, the ambition is to pave the
way for a new type of mobility solutions for modern and sustainable
cities. NEVS further announced that it is bringing a
second model to life, an SUV EV, to fulfill the growing demand for
electric SUV in the country. The new vehicle is called the NEVS 9-3X
SUV.
The Chinese-owned NEVS,
who acquired SAAB technology after the company filed for bankruptcy in
2012, announced this week that it received approval for its 200,000 unit
plant in Tianjin. Earlier in 2015, the company declared that the
Chinese Aerospace entity, Volinco, signed an intention to acquire 20,000
SAAB 9-3 sedans for its staff, in a transaction worth around $1
billion. The City of Tianjin is also a shareholder in National Electric
Vehicles Sweden (NEVS).
NEVS Electric Vehicles
NEVS Electric Car Strategy in the news
Week 13 2019 New NEVS EV strategy
2019 Week 5 Chinese love affair with Swedish brands continues
2019 Week 3 Tired of FF Evergrande shifts to NEVS
2018 Week 11 NEVS gets capital to build battery factory
2017 Week 49 SAAB 9-3 reborn as NEVS start production
2017 Week 43 NEVS and Chinese Ridesharing DiDi partners
2017 Week 35 New investor in NEVS
2017 Week 22 NEVS introduces the NEVS 9-3 EV in pilot mobility program
2017 Week 4 Received approval for its plant in Tianjin
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