Newly-installed Saab owner, National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), says it will fill positions from the top down as it gradually ramps up to full production at the Trollhattan site, which it says is in good shape.
NEVS inked the deal to buy bankrupt Saab earlier this week for an undisclosed sum and has already recruited 75 people for the new automaker, although this still remains a far cry from the Swedish company’s heyday when it employed nearly 4,000 staff.
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“Since we are developing EVs, we will have around one-and-a-half years until we have the first electric car out,” a NEVS spokesman told just-auto from Sweden.
“We have top-down technical recruitment and as we start production, we will fill up with production staff.”
NEVS confirmed although its product would be “global,” it would focus first on the Chinese market given what they claimed was its major investment in EV infrastructure.
The first model will be based on the 9-3 – using the Saab name following Swedish defence company Saab AB’s permission to use the brand – but not controversially featuring the trademark Griffin logo following objections from truck maker, Scania.
NEVS also said it had not received any funding from the Swedish government in order to restart the Trollhattan factory, which the spokesman said would be “fast” to open again as the receivers had employed staff to keep the site in readiness.
The tooling element of Saab has also been working in the press shop to ensure parts are up to date, with NEVS noting the factory was in “very good shape.”
