National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) says both unnamed overseas OEMs involved in a potential takeover of the ailing carmaker want to come to an agreement, but concedes the process is taking more time than anticipated.
The Swedish automaker is in the process of applying for an extension to its bankruptcy protection, due to be heard in a District Court on 2 March, but is still actively pursuing potential OEM interest.
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“Both of them [OEMs] want to come to an agreement – they are very thorough…to make sure they are getting a good investment and of course we want to find a deal that is beneficial for us,” a NEVS spokesman in Trollhattan told just-auto.
“It has taken a long time – maybe longer than we thought from the beginning but at the same time we are making progress. [We are] investing [an] incredible amount of time and effort into this and so are they.”
NEVS is currently completing 100 cars at its site in Western Sweden, with the vehicles uniquely available for the home market, but is also indicating it could be open to offers for partial use of its vast factory for other uses.
“This factory – not just our own words but people who have been here – it is a top class factory made for building cars at a high volume” said the NEVS spokesman.
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By GlobalData“Maybe some parts of the factory could be used for other types of logistics reasons, but the factory as a whole is made for building cars.”
NEVS has established a creditor committee made up of representatives from the 500 or so suppliers with an interest in the reorganisation and says moves are being made in terms of talks with its component providers.
“We have said even if we come to an agreement with one of the OEMs we are negotiating with before 2 March, we will mostly likely continue to apply for a reorganisation in order to finalise negotiations with creditors,” added the spokesman.
“We are not allowed to get new creditors [during reorganisation] and we are not allowed to treat some creditors better than others. It is somewhere around 500 suppliers.”
NEVS confirms it is finalising the 100 remaining cars, noting they will be sold exclusively on the Swedish market.
“This is where we have the aftersales agreement with the service shops, where we can provide the correct standards of service,” said the NEVS spokesman.
