The final chapter of Saab's Swedish factory story is playing out at an online auction. Eight vehicles tied to the brand's last years at Trollhättan go under the hammer May 21–30, 2026, through Swedish auctioneer Klaravik, with no reserve price on any lot.
Seven of the eight are Saab 9-3 variants — some pre-production 2014 cars, electric prototypes built before NEVS (National Electric Vehicle Sweden) launched a 9-3 EV in China, a range-extender hybrid test mule, and at least one in-wheel motor prototype. The eighth vehicle is a Hengchi 5 SUV, an electric crossover from Evergrande — the same Chinese real-estate conglomerate that bankrolled NEVS after acquiring Saab Automobile's bankruptcy assets in August 2012.
The collapse that led here
NEVS assembled a team largely made up of former Saab engineers and spent years developing a revived 9-3 and a new electric sedan called the Emily GT. The Emily GT featured an in-wheel motor setup and, in 2023, program director Peter Dahl said the car was roughly 18 months from series production.
That timeline evaporated when Evergrande's liquidity crisis — which began unraveling in 2021 and deepened through 2023 — cut off funding. NEVS laid off more than 300 of its 340 Trollhättan employees in 2023. The Emily GT project remains unfinished with no buyer found. The factory itself was sold to Stenhaga Invest in November 2023.
What Saab fans are actually bidding on
For collectors who followed the brand, this auction may be the last realistic chance to own a vehicle connected to Saab's post-bankruptcy years. A similar clearance in 2025 moved rare parts, clay models, and dealership display pieces.
The Trollhättan plant, which has operated since 1947, is not sitting empty. Polestar uses part of the site as a research and development center, though no mass production takes place there.
None of the NEVS-era 9-3s or the Emily GT were ever offered for sale in the US — Saab's American dealership network shut down in early 2012 along with the original brand. The auction is open to bidders worldwide via Klaravik, and a factory tour is scheduled for May 30 alongside the closing of bids — per Carscoops.