New Saab Owner Gets Rights to Name and Phoenix Platform, But Not Griffin Logo; Any Suggestions?

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. At least that’s what Juliet tells Romeo in the renowned play. However, even if the executives of NEVS (National Electric Vehicle Sweden), Saab Automobile’s new owners, are avid Shakespeare readers, they still wanted the Saab name along with the rest of the brand.

Last we heard, they were negotiating with Saab AB, the aerospace company and Scania AB, which own the rights to both the name and the logo of the automotive company.

On Monday, however, NEVS announced that is has completed the acquisition of Saab Automobile AB, Saab Automobile Powertrain AB and Saab Automobile Tools AB, IP rights for the Phoenix platform and the Saab 9-3, the Trollhättan manufacturing plant and test and laboratory facilities, effective August 31, for an undisclosed amount of money.

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Saab Auto's New Owner to Launch an EV based on the 9-3 by Early 2014, will Initially Focus in China

Saab, the Swedish car brand that just refuses to die, will have a new pure-electric model based on the underpinnings of the 9-3 on the market by the end of 2013 or early 2014, according to the company's new owner, National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (NEVS).

NEVS was specifically established by a consortium formed by Japanese, Swedish and Chinese stakeholders to acquire Saab assets including Saab Property AB, which owns the company's production facility in Trollhattan and Saab Powertrain AB.

It also owns some rights to the 9-3 and the company's incomplete Phoenix platform architecture but not the 9-5 sedan/station wagon and the 9-4x crossover that remain the intellectual property of General Motors.

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Saab UK Puts up for Sale the Last Remaining RHD 2012 9-3 Convertibles

Last May, amidst a mountain of problems, Saab celebrated the silver jubilee of its Convertible series that debuted as the 900 Cabrio in 1986 before the Swedes renamed the entire model lineup to 9-3 in 1998.

A year later, Saab is bankrupt and the company's Trollhättan plant idled, but if you live in the UK and are still interested in buying a brand new 9-3 Convertible, we have some good news for you.

Saab Parts UK announced today that it has successfully secured the sale of the last remaining 26 right-hand drive MY12 9-3 Convertibles, which will be available to buy through the company's national network of 87 Authorised Repairers.

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Watch the New Saab 9-3 TTA Racer at its First Shakedown Test in France

Saab was born from jets but this new 9-3 TTA racecar was born from the love and the passion that the people behind Flash Engineering and Team Tidö feel for the bankrupt Swedish brand.

The first of four racing examples of the Saab 9-3 sedan that will participate at the 2012 TTA Racing Elite League in Sweden completed its first shakedown tests at the Alés track in France.

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Saab Lives on the Racing Field as New 9-3 Sedans will Compete in Swedish Touring Car Championship

The brand may have gone bankrupt but Saab will continue to be represented on the racetracks as four-newly developed 9-3 sedans will participate in Sweden's TTA – Racing Elite League in the 2012 season.

Flash Engineering and Team Tidö will run the cars while the Saab Dealer Organisation will support their efforts. In addition, certain divisions of Saab that remain alive including Saab Parts, will also be involved in the racing program.

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Saab 9-3 gets Another Chance in Life in China as an All-Electric Model from BAIC

We have been critical of the clones produced by Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. (BAIC for short) such as its Mercedes B-Class doppelganger called the BC301Z, but the Saab 9-3 sedan pictured above is actually legit.

You see, GM sold the intellectual rights for Saab's older generation 9-5 and 9-3s along with select powertrain technology and tooling equipment to China's BAIC for US$200 million back in 2009, when it still owned the Swedish carmaker.

BAIC's subsidiary Beijing Auto Works (BAW) had previewed its own versions of the Saab 9-3 and 9-5 sedans with two separate concepts called the C60 and C71 respectively, during the 2010 Beijing Auto Show.

For its next move, BAIC is finishing work on a pure-electric model based on the Saab 9-3. Codenamed the Q60FB-C1, it will likely make its first public outing at the upcoming 2012 Beijing Auto Show in April.

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'Half Price' Saab Dealer Shutting Down, Publishes Letter Putting Part of the Blame on GM

You may remember our Saab post from earlier this week where we asked you if you'd buy 9-3 or 9-5 sedan at half price. Among the deals we listed were several low mileage loaners with a 50 percent discount from the Shaw Saab dealership in Norwell, Massachusetts.

As we learned today from the Saabsunited enthusiast site, the aforementioned dealership is closing shop on February 3 after 44 years as an exclusive Saab seller.

Fred Shaw, the owner, posted a letter on the company's Facebook page where he announces the shut down and outlines his future plans, which include the selling of the real estate to Herb Chambers (the car shop equivalent of Dunkin Donuts in Massachusetts), who will turn it into a Lexus shop.

Nothing unexpected there, but in his letter, Shaw also refers to General Motors and the role it played in the outcome of Saab's failed reorganization efforts. Being an official dealer, Shaw's view on the matter makes for an interesting read. You can check out the letter right after the break.

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2011 Saab 9-3 and 9-5 Sedans for Half Price, but Would You Buy Them?

Ever since we learned about Saab's bankruptcy, many pondered whether it would be a good idea to buy a brand new or a very low mileage example from dealers that wanted to get rid of the cars they had in stock at marked down prices.

The problem is that these cars are offered without a manufactures warranty while we're still not certain what's going on with parts, because sure you can get an awesome deal, but what happens if something breaks or needs replacement on your car; will you find a part in a timely manner and equally important, at what cost?

It's good to keep in mind that being an older model, it's much easier to find replacement parts for the 9-3 series than it is for the newer 9-5.

Lots of questions not too many answers, and this is something that will likely make most mainstream buyers wary.

What we can say is that over the past few weeks that we have been following the subject, prices of the remaining Saab cars in the U.S. have dropped significantly.

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