Saab to roll out electric cars in 2014: buyer

BEIJING, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Bankrupt Swedish carmaker Saab plans to roll out new electric cars in 18 months, its buyer National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) said Monday.

NEVS, wholly owned by National Modern Energy Holdings Ltd.(NME Holdings) in Hong Kong, finalized its acquisition of the main assets of Saab Automobile, Saab Automobile Powertrain and Saab Automobile Tools, effective August 31, NEVS's CEO Kai Johan Jiang announced in Beijing Monday.

The engineering and development of the first electric vehicle has been underway in China and Japan for some time and now with Saab's manufacturing facilities, the development work could be continued at the Saab plant, he said.

"In approximately 18 months, we plan to introduce our first electric vehicle based on Saab 9-3 technologies and a new technology electric powertrain," Karl-Erling Trogen, NEVS's chairman, said in a statement.

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