Just eight weeks ago, General Motors was going through the motions to shut down its small Swedish entity, Saab. Now under new Dutch ownership, independently owned and operated Saab has officially kicked off production at its historic Trollhattan, Sweden, assembly plant.
The first Saab to roll down the line was a 2011 9-5 sedan, which the automaker says will join the automaker’s internal fleet as a pilot production test vehicle.
“Today’s resumption of production is a milestone in the history of our company” said Jan Åke Jonsson, Saab’s CEO, in a statement released to the media. “We are up and running as an independent manufacturer and I am delighted to share the experience on the line alongside our workforce. They have shown tremendous commitment to the company and we are all now focused on ramping up production to meet customer demand.”
Jonsson (right in image) was on hand with the brand’s savior, Spyker CEO Victor Muller (left), to re-open production.
Just before GM began to dismantle the brand, Saab consolidated all of its production at its Swedish assembly plant. When the 9-5 SportCombi station wagon begins production in about a year, Saab will build all five of its models under the same roof.
