Saab’s Chinese owner partners with Koenigsegg, purchases 20-percent stake in supercar maker

China’s NEVS purchased the remnants of Saab years ago, and now the company has taken a stake in another Swedish automaker. NEVS announced it has purchased a 20-percent stake in Koenigsegg and partnered to create a new joint venture between the two companies.

In the Tuesday announcement, the Chinese automaker said it provided a capital injection of about $170 million in exchange for 20 percent of Koenigsegg. The amount creates a minority stake for the Chinese firm, and in exchange, NEVS will provide access to production facilities in Trollhättan, Sweden. For decades, the facility churned out Saab cars, then traded hands to Spyker briefly, and restarted production in 2013 under NEVS ownership.

Both Koenigsegg and NEVS also declared a new strategic partnership via a joint venture. NEVS will contribute another $170 million to the joint venture and own the majority of it with 65 percent, while Koenigsegg will control the other 35 percent and contribute intellectual property, technology licenses, and product design. The goal of the joint venture is to “develop a product for new and untapped segments, leveraging both of the companies’ strengths,” according to the announcement.

It’s unclear what both firms have planned, but it is likely new cars for the electric vehicle segment. Meanwhile, NEVS will provide support as Koenigsegg continues to develop its show-stopping supercars.

“This partnership will create the best conditions for Koenigsegg to accelerate growth in the hypercar market, as well as enabling us to break ground into an untapped market segment together with NEVS,” said Christian von Koenigsegg, founder and CEO of Koenigsegg.

NEVS’ majority owner should be familiar to some, too. China’s Evergrande Health purchased a controlling stake in the automaker earlier this month. It is the same conglomerate that has funded Faraday Future, then entered bitter legal battles. The purchasing spree hasn’t stopped there. Evergrande also purchased a 58.07 percent stake in battery maker Shanghai CENAT New Energy for $156 million this month.

Could a future Koenigsegg hypercar take advantage of that battery technology? We’ll have to wait and see.

Source: Motor Authority