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Comment by gtrubetskoy | Hacker News Reader

Another not so mysterious company that I once used to love is focusing exclusively on an electric vehicle: http://www.saabcars.com/

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Saab automobile went bankrupt after a lot of back and forth[0], and the estate was bought by NEVS[1], a Chinese owned company. They own the design for the old cars (Saab 9-3 was introduced in 2002), they use the same assembly plant in Sweden, but last I heard Saab AB (the owner of the Saab brand) did not want to license the brand to NEVS[2] again after their reconstruction. So even if they do start car production in the future, they won't be called Saab unless something change. NEVS also recently sold the rights to the 9-3 platform to Turkey [3], because they've had financial problems since the start. I would be very surprised if an electric car of any relevance came out from the old Saab factory any time soon unfortunately.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyker_Cars#Ownership_of_Saab_...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Electric_Vehicle_Swed...

[2] http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=125&arti...

[3] http://www.autoblog.com/2015/10/19/turkey-buys-saab-93-for-n...

Odd, the rims on the electric version look just like Tesla's turbine rims.

I never owned a Saab myself but I get the impression they are solid, lovable cars.

Saab had those rims long before Tesla did.

I could be totally wrong, but I believe this Saab doesn't really have anything to do with the Saab of old, besides the name and reusing an old design.

Made in the same factory too. But owners are new

You know how if you're stopped at a light and clean the windshield, the washer fluid sprays, the wipers cycle, and then there's some drips of washer fluid at the top of the wiped area that then drips down the windshield so you have to manually trigger the wipers again? My old Saab had a delay built in to the call for wiper fluid so that it would automatically sweep the wipers a few seconds to get those last drips. It was but one of many thoughtful design elements.

Saabs had a character that was unique; regardless of how one felt personally about driving one, the auto world is poorer place without Saab.

One Ford bought Saab and dumbed down the cars, the writing was on the wall.

Bankruptcy was inevitable.

GM bought Saab. Ford bought Volvo.

The upkeep on them (parts, repairs) is quite expensive compared to your average japanese auto.

Likely homage to their aerospace origins.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_Group

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