Skip to main content

China’s Dongfeng Motor steps in to save Saab, but salvation comes at a cost

2017 saab 9 3 news rumors launch date ronan glon emblem 1
Ronan Glon/Digital Trends
It’s been a volatile couple of years for Saab. The car maker nearly entered the pantheon of defunct car brands on several occasions, and its factory in Trollhättan, Sweden, hasn’t churned out a car in months.

Things could finally be looking up for Saab. National Electric Vehicles Sweden (NEVS), Saab’s parent company, has just signed a long-term strategic cooperation agreement with Dongfeng Motor Corporation, one of China’s biggest and most profitable car manufacturers.

The two companies have been discreetly working together for about a month. NEVS is tapping into Saab’s vast experience in the auto industry to help enhance Dongfeng’s technical strengths, and Dongfeng is helping NEVS boost its development capacity.

The extended agreement will take the cooperation a step further. Initially, it calls for the joint purchasing of components from suppliers all around the globe, and for the establishment of a common distribution network. Later on, Dongfeng will help NEVS develop and mass-produce green, eco-friendly cars in Tianjin, China.

The much-needed help comes at a cost. As a trade-off, NEVS will need to show Dongfeng exactly how to build cars that comply with the strict safety regulations in overseas markets, notably Europe and the United States. Like many Chinese car companies, Dongfeng has been trying to expand its operations outside of China and into Europe, North America, or both for a couple of years but it has never succeeded. If everything works as planned, the agreement is a win-win situation for the two parties involved.

“This cooperation is one of the steps for NEVS to become a front-runner in the automotive industry, with focus on electric vehicles,” explained company president Mattias Bergman.

NEVS is a young player in the auto industry, but it can drive a hard bargain because it owns all of Saab’s intellectual property as well as a large, fully functional factory. Dongfeng, on the other hand, is the third-biggest car maker in China. Owned entirely by the Chinese government, it currently hold a 14 percent stake in Paris-based PSA Peugeot Citroën, and it operates joint-ventures with a long list of foreign automakers including Honda, Nissan, Kia, and Renault.

Editors' Recommendations

Ronan Glon
Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…
Hyundai Ioniq 9: price, release date, range, and more
Hyundai Ioniq 9 Front

Hyundai has been at the forefront of EV development for a while now, largely thanks to the success of the crossover-sized Hyundai Ioniq 5. But the company is readying another new EV that could be even more popular than the Ioniq 5 -- or at least more desirable in the U.S., the land of big cars.

The upcoming Ioniq 9, previously set to be called the Ioniq 7, will be Hyundai's take on an electric SUV. It will be to Hyundai what the Kia EV9 is to Kia. It will have three rows and carry over design elements from the Ioniq 5.

Read more
Audi Q6 e-tron ushers in the automaker’s next EV phase
2025 Audi Q6 e-tron front three quarter view.

Audi doesn’t get enough credit for getting luxury car buyers comfortable with EVs. While Tesla took care of the image-conscious types, the German brand unveiled its e-tron electric SUV in 2018 with the tagline “electric has gone Audi” in hopes of getting loyal customers excited about (or, at least, acclimated to) electric cars by pitching the e-tron as an Audi first and an EV second.

The e-tron wasn’t a one-off, either. It’s since evolved into the Q8 e-tron and has been joined by the sporty e-tron GT and entry-level Q4 e-tron. So, while some car brands are only just introducing their first electric models, Audi is ready for round two.

Read more
Rivian R2 vs R3: Will one be ‘better’ than the other?
Rivian R2, R3, and R3X

Rivian has finally taken the wraps off of the Rivian R2, its latest SUV. It's designed to be smaller and more affordable than the much-loved R1S. But alongside the R2, Rivian also pulled off another surprise reveal -- the new Rivian R3.

The Rivian R3 is even smaller and aimed at being even more affordable than the R2. In fact, while the R2 is only a little smaller than the R1S and still an SUV, the R3 isn't really an SUV at all -- it instead wanders into crossover territory. It's designed to be Rivian's answer to cars like the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, and, yes, the Tesla Model Y.

Read more