Collapse of start-up NEVS means several of the last 9-3s ever built – plus prototypes – are now being sold off
The last Saabs left at the defunct company’s factory in Trollhättan, Sweden, are being sold at auction. The sale marks the end of the line for NEVS, the start-up born out of Saab’s 2012 collapse.
It was staffed primarily by former Saab engineers and was backed by Chinese property giant the Evergrande Group, working primarily on autonomous and electric cars.
Those included the striking Emily GT, a saloon that evoked Saab’s styling and was fitted with in-wheel motors.
But Evergrande collapsed in 2021, leading to NEVS laying off 320 of its 340 staff based at Trollhättan in February 2023.
In April 2023, Emily GT programme director Peter Dahl told Swedish publication Carup that “everything is in place” to take the striking EV into production. It was around a year and a half away from readiness.
The Emily GT appeared to have been saved by Canadian start-up EV Electra in December 2023, but the deal collapsed the following May.
Polestar moved into part of the Trollhättan plant in 2023, using it as a research and development centre but not for production.
In September 2025, NEVS auctioned off the assets from the plant, including thousands of rare parts, scale models and old motor show banners.
The new auction therefore heralds the end of an era for the storied centre, opened in 1947.
Eight cars will be available: seven examples of the Saab 9-3, plus one Hengchi 5, a mid-size electric SUV produced by Evergrande.
Of the 9-3s, three are pre-production cars built in 2014, a further three are electric prototypes built by NEVS before the 9-3 EV’s launch in China, and one is a test car fitted with a range-extender hybrid powertrain.
They will be offered on Swedish auction site Klaravik from 21 May with no reserve.
Saab enthusiasts and bidders will be offered a tour of the Trollhättan plant on 30 May, the same day the auctions close.
