After keeping us all under bated breath ever since they made one single, solitary car a few months ago, National Electric Vehicle Sweden has announced that they are re-starting production of the Saab 9-3 on Monday. And despite the company name, the new-old 9-3 is not electric! Huzzah!
The car will still be powered by a "turbocharged gasoline engine," according to Reuters, which sounds a lot like the last Saab 9-3 engine, though there's no confirmation if that's actually the case.
New Saab, which is what I have decided to call NEVS while they're still making Saabs, will make the new-old 9-3 in "small and humble numbers," for only the Chinese and Swedish markets for now, which means you've got about a moose's chance in Hawaii of getting one here in the States.
Eventually they plan on selling an electric version of the 9-3 in China, but when that will happen is sort of anybody's guess right now. The new-old 9-3 reportedly looks only "similar" the last 9-3, though if the photo of the first pre-production model rolling off the line above is any indication, it looks pretty much exactly the same. Let us know if you spot any real differences.
Either way, Saab fans are clearly a loyal bunch. As I count myself as one of those mythical "Saab fans," I only have one reaction to this whole thing:
Topshot photo of the first pre-production 9-3 rolling off the assembly line via NEVS