New Saabs coming this year?

The "news" about New Saabs has been spread on our Facebook page some weeks ago. But as not all Saabists are active on Facebook this time something about those Saabs(the pictures are made in Austria on my way to Italy). According to the news new Saabs `ll be made again by end of August 2013 in the city of Trollhättan. 8000 Saab 9-3 sedans in both gasoline and diesel versions `ll be made and in the future an electrical version will be available too. The Saab 9-3X `ll be available by year`s end, but there is no mention of the 9-3 Sport Combi being produced.

No news about the engines to power the 2013 Saab 9-3. The "old" 9-3 had a GM engine, it is highly unlikely that GM would license this engine to NEVS. The tooling and know how for Saabs old H-series engine has been sold to BAIC. In the past Fiat engines have been installed in 9-3`s, that`s why there are rumors of a Fiat engine to power new Saabs. But why no BMW engine? They had a deal with Victor a couple of years ago.

Team behind Save Saab Museum page

Today Ingrid has joined the team of our Save Saab Museum page. There are three Saabists now posting on the Save Saab Museum page on Facebook (and we have more than 1600 likes now). Ingrid is a Saabista driving in a 9-5NG sedan and living in Holland.

Simik is living in Los Angeles and drives a 9-5 too, he is very active in the Saab community of Los Angeles.

Rudy is living in Holland like Ingrid and has a 9-3 Convertible (besides that also a 9-3 sedan and a Saab 95V4). Together we want to enjoy you all with info about Saab and nice Saab pictures. Feel free to share your pictures and/or stories on our Facebook page!

Saab specialist Tema automotive

Recently a new Saab specialist has started here in Middelburg (close to where I live). Today he has an open house, some of my Saabs are participating. Click here for more pictures.

Sold my 9-5 and congrats to Puntita and Krit

Yesterday evening I`ve sold my Saab 9-5 to a client. Her own car was too expensive to repair. She`s very happy with my 9-5 and I have still 3 Saabs left.

The 9-5 really is a good car, I really enjoyed driving the 9-5 but I did not use this car very often. It`s better this way. Besides that. I am in contact with the owner of my first new bought Saab (9-3 hatchback on petrol). He `s still a happy owner, but if he wants to sell in the future he`ll call me first.

Today Puntita and Krit are married in their "Sharp-Saab" in Thailand. Congratulations and good luck together!!!

With my Saab 9-3 Aero I`m still not finished by the way. Very often I have the "rear fog light" warning. I`m afraid I have to replace the whole fuse box (have replaced light, wires are ok).

New this fuse box is rather expensive, I hope to replace it with a used one. It`s not very urgent, so I have the time.

Saabs in Thailand 2

The Sharp Saab has got some company. The owner (Krit) has bought a "new" Saab 900s.

Of course Krit is proud of his Saabs. Krit and Puntita want to marry the 23rd jan in their Saab 96 (for pictures see the Sharp Saab article).

Saabs made in China

Source The Qingdao Qingbo Investment Co. Ltd., the State Power Group Co. Ltd., and its Swedish subsidiary signed an agreement on 7 January to build SAAB cars in Qingdao, Shandong Province, states the Qingdao Daily newspaper. National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (NEVS), a sister company to State Power Group Co. Ltd., bought SAAB in June 2012. Both companies are owned by National Modern Energy Holdings, a company founded and controlled by Johan Kai Jiang, a Chinese-Swedish enterpreneur. According to the Qingdao Daily,the three parties involved pledged to invest 10 billion yuan (1.6 billion dollars) to construct a factory capable of building up to 400,000 automobiles a year, which includes cars powered by both conventional internal-combustion engines and alternative fuel engines. The factory, an R&D center, sales, and procurement centers will be built in Qingdao, a northern Chinese port city. The Qingdao Qingbo Investment Co. Ltd. is believed to be a company set up by the Chinese government specifically for the SAAB project. That makes the Chinese an investor in any future SAAB cars. By shifting production to China instead of Sweden heavy import tariffs are avoided for cars made under the SAAB brand. A time frame for the building of the factory is unclear, but factory construction in China can be done at a breathtaking pace once approval is granted by the central government. An official statement by the Swedish subsidiary of NEVS is still pending on this matter. However a source to Saabblog.net states that in the future Qingdao will produce cars for the Asian markets, while Trollhättan will produce them for Europe and the US. Too good to be true? If it all comes true and SAAB is revived perhaps their first car ought to be the SAAB Phoenix, which will be appropriately named...

The Sharp Saab in Thailand

On our Facebook fanpage we`ve nearly 1200 fans now. One of them is Krit Jongudomsombut from Bangkok (Thailand). As we maybe all know, in Thailand a Saab is very rare (for sure not so common like here in Europe).

Krit told me people in Thailand really don`t know Saab. If he parks at the public car park people often call his car a Sharp (brand of electric appliances) instead of Saab. Krit is a Saab fan for many years. And he`s not the only one in his family. Also his brother in law drives a Saab.

The Saab 96 shown above is the wedding car of Krit and Puntita (they`ve planned their marriage januari the 23rd). Krit drives his Saab 96 for 5 days a week and he gets a lot of attention on the road. Krit drives a very exclusive car because there are just 2 other Saab 96`s left in Thailand.

In the past Krit had also a 1993 Saab 9000CD. Below some pictures.

Finally a picture of the Black Saab 9000 CD Krit owns, this one is from 1997. Do you have a Saab too, feel free to post your picture with or without story on our Facebook page.