According to Automotive News, the NEVS Consortium (full name: National Electric Vehicle Sweden) may soon go on sale priced at around $1 billion USD, with Xiaomi Group considered one of the potential buyers.
NEVS is part of China-owned Evergrande Group and holds the assets of Saab, the traditional automaker that went bankrupt several years ago. Selling these assets would reportedly enable the company to get out of its debt situation. In September, a court decision froze $20 million USD worth of Evergrande assets after the company reported $740 million USD in losses over the first half of 2021, twice as much as the year before.
Evergrande acquired NEVS a few years ago, originally intending to re-launch the production of the Saab 9-3 (shown in our gallery and the video) on an electric platform in China. However, for unknown reasons, the production never began. Another initiative of Evergrande involved making EVs under the Hengchi brand, and it also ended in failure.
In September, Xiaomi announced its intention to establish a special EV making subdivision and confirmed that it was going to become an electric car maker. It never revealed any launch timeframes or partnerships involved. Perhaps the company indeed wants to acquire NEVS together with its assets and tech in order to promote electrical mobility. There has been no official comment from any of the parties involved yet.