Saab 9-3 SportCombi to be reborn under NEVS

The Saab wagon is back, while Phoenix platform development continues.

The sexy Saab 9-3 SportCombi is making a return, to be reintroduced alongside the electric 9-3 sedan that saw production begin earlier this month.

Mikael Ostlund, communications director of NEVS, Saab's current owner, told Autoblog that plans to revive the SportCombi are under way and that the option of adding a convertible to the lineup is also on the table, though decision on the latter has not yet been made.

Also rising, phoenix-like, is the Phoenix architecture that Saab was developing just prior to its 2011 bankruptcy. Funded by its short stint under GM ownership, the platform was set to succeed the GM Epsilon platform underpinning the 9-3 and is, according to Ostlund, flexible enough to spawn several different body styles, including a crossover. The Saab PhoeniX show car displayed at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show referenced the new platform, but Olstlund could not confirm any plans for the new architecture at this time.

No specifications or pricing have been announced at this time. Although the sedan can achieve a range 30 miles beyond that of a Nissan Leaf, the wagon will presumably have that distance shortened due to weight and aerodynamic restricitions.

For the moment, the reborn Saabs are slated for two markets, its native Sweden and China (NEVS is a Chinese consortium). The initial run of 200 electric 9-3 sedans will undergo testing in Qingdao before a large scale rollout in spring or summer of this year.