It was at the beginning of December that the news came that the Lebanese entrepreneur Jihad Mohammad behind the car company EV Electra at the last minute buys several of Nev’s projects.
Nevs is the company that bought the bankrupt estate of the classic Swedish car brand Saab, and had to shut down its operations at the beginning of 2023 when the money ran out.
What remained was the electric car Emily GT and the self-driving concept PONS.
Grand plans in Trollhättan
Despite the many skeptics, Jihad Mohammad had grand plans. Production would already start in the middle of 2024, and take place in Saab’s old premises in Trollhättan.
In addition, the Nevs employees who were notified when the business was closed would be allowed to return.
Skeptical voices about the deal
Quite immediately after the news, however, skeptical voices began to be raised from several quarters about the buyer EV Electra.
The Youtuber Peter Esse found, among other things, a jumble of websites, the traces of a failed cryptocurrency and allegations of a stolen car from a previous partnership.
Today’s industry found links to a suspected Swedish eco-criminal.
The NEVS deal: Alarm bells are ringing about the Emily GT buyer
The factory is empty
Now Jihad Mohammad has given a video interview with Erno Reuvekamp at Saab Club Nederlandwhere he confirms that there will probably be no production of the Emily GT in Trollhättan.
The big problem is that the production lines and robots used for car manufacturing in Trollhättan were scrapped when Saab went bankrupt. All you have in Trollhättan is thus an empty factory where large investments are required to be able to produce cars again.
The fact that the factory is actually just an empty shell must have surprised Mohammad, who states that it is impossible to start production in Trollhättan as early as 2024.
In addition, a large part of the old factory is owned by entrepreneur Svante Andersson, who may consider renting out the premises but not selling them to EV Electra. Jihad Mohammad states that he wants to own his factory and not rent.
Looking at options
In the interview, Mohammad says that they will not be able to produce cars in Trollhättan during 2024, and they are therefore looking at renting out the production of the Emily GT to a contract manufacturer as an alternative.
He mentions VDL Nedcar in the Netherlands, which has built BMW and Mini, among others, as a potential contract manufacturer.
The advantage of hiring a contract manufacturer is that they already have ready-made production lines, and that it is therefore much easier to start production.
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