TIANJIN, China -- China's National Electric Vehicle Sweden, which owns the assets of bankrupt Swedish automaker Saab, broke ground on a plant in the northeast China city of Tianjin to produce an electric vehicles.
NEVS said it would spend 1.2 billion yuan ($200 million) to build the plant, which will produce up to 200,000 vehicles annually.
The company did not release any details about the EVs and it's not clear whether the vehicles will be marketed under the Saab name.
"The exact models and brands are not finalized yet," a company spokesman told Automotive News Europe.
In 2012, NEVS purchased the assets of bankrupt automaker Saab and built a handful of Saab 9-3 models in Trollhattan, Sweden. Last year, NEVS halted production and sought bankruptcy protection in September.
After NEVS went into bankruptcy, Saab AB, the Swedish defense firm that held the rights to the Saab name, withdrew permission for NEVS to use it.
To gain backing for its new Chinese assembly plant, NEVS has formed joint ventures with State Research Information Technology and Beijing Teamsun Technology Co.
Teamsun, a Beijing-based software developer, was founded in 1998. SRIT, a provider of information technology, is owned by the state-owned China Research Development Center and telecommunications giant China Unicom.
SRIT will contribute 1 billion yuan, while Teamsum will invest 200 million yuan.
Automotive News Europe contributed to this report
