Saab Out, Nevs In

Saab Automotive's current owners -- NME Holdings, Tianjin Bin Hai Hi-tech Industrial Development Area, and State Research Information Technology Company -- say that they won't revive the Saab nameplate and will instead sell cars under the National Electric Vehicle Sweden (Nevs) brand. The last remaining vestige of Saab, its website, now redirects to Nevs, where the announcement was recently made.

Following the company’s foundation back in 2012, and its acquisition of the main assets of the Saab Automobile bankruptcy estates, Nevs has been moving towards a focus on electric vehicle technology and new mobility solutions. The Nevs trademark will be applied to its products starting in 2017.

The press materials touting the name change have been unequivocal in Nevs desire to rebrand, but there is speculation that it was in fact a necessary decision not of their choosing. Saab Group's defense and security operations remain active and are divided into five business areas - Aeronautics, Dynamics, Surveillance, Support and Services, and Industrial Products and Services. The talk is that, in order to break with the troubled history of Saab Auto, Saab Defense would not relinquish the branding, thus necessitating the new company name.

At least four models for Nevs have been planned around the Phoenix platform that Saab developed but never had the chance to implement before it slid into bankruptcy. There is high speculation that Nevs will eventually partner with Uber, Lyft, China's Didi Chuxing, or perhaps some other ride-sharing/car-sharing start-up, just to hedge its automaking bets.