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Victor Muller to pay Sweden back taxes for Saab work

Victor Muller, Saab's CEO from 2010 to 2011, has been ordered by the Swedish court to pay the back taxes he owes the country for his work at Saab, Autoweek and Volkskrant report. When he was the automaker's CEO he received a salary of about 8 million Swedish Krona ($1.25 million), which was recorded as a reward for consultancy work for a company in the US that Muller owns. The move allowed him to evade taxes for awhile, but the court has ordered him to pay taxes on his full salary.
Muller, who is also CEO of Spyker, and two other Saab executives were accused of accounting fraud in May, which took place in 2010 and 2011. According to reports, Muller maintains that he is not subject to taxes in Sweden.

Recharge Wrap-up: Renault's electric motors, BMW i3 is AM free

Why isn't AM radio offered in the BMW i3? Some drivers – particularly those interested in local traffic reports – have noticed its absence. BMW says that the electromagnetic interference from the electric drivetrain caused poor performance, and that while reception wasn't always terrible, it wasn't up to their standards. Rather than have customers complain to their dealers, who would be unable to do anything for them, BMW has disabled AM reception in the i3. Some customers have hacked their cars in order to enable the AM radio, despite possible warranty issues, and have found the reception to be acceptable. Read more at Green Car Reports. Saab's current parent company, National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), broke ground for production and R&D facilities in Tianjin, China. The facilities are part of joint ventures with the city of Tianjin and State Research Information Technology (SRIT). In addition to investments of over $190 million from SRIT and Teamsun, NEVS has received $1.6 billion in credit from the Bank of China to develop its business there. The new Tianjin factory will have a capacity of 200,000 new energy vehicles per year. The facility in Trollhattan, Sweden will provide manufacturing planning, training, and product supply for the Tianjin plant. Read more at Green Car Congress, and in the press release from NEVS. Renault is building the new R240 electric motor for the Zoe at its Cleon plant. The plant and its employees, which specialize in the Energy dCi diesel engine, have adapted to produce high volumes of the electric motor as well, including a 6,000 hours of training for the staff and millions of dollars in investments. "We aim to become the leading powertrain plant for the Alliance," says Cleon plant director Mendi Ammad. The plant is capable of producing 50,000 units of the R240 motor per year, with that number expected to double in the future. Read more about the plant and the production process the press release below. NEW ELECTRIC MOTOR STRENGTHENS POWERTRAIN EXPERTISE AT CLEON ZOE's new electric motor, unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, is a 100% Renault motor manufactured at the French site of Cleon, already specialized in highly technical powertrain production. Until now, the flagship of the Cleon plant was the Energy dCi (130, 140, 160) internal-combustion engine. The diesel unit with advanced technological content has made a name for itself at Groupe Renault, the Alliance and with our partners.

Saab 9-3 production has restarted

If you're one of the small cadre of Saab drivers, first of all, kudos to you. Because as Top Gear pointed out, Saab drivers are among the most intellectual drivers out there. Secondly, we've got good news for you, because the 9-3 has officially resumed production at the Trollhättan plant in Sweden.
For those of you who may not have followed the story, a quick refresher: Founded in 1947, Saab Automobile AB was an independent automaker until 1989 when General Motors began the decade-long process acquiring it. Unable to make it profitable, GM sold Saab to Spyker in 2010, but that Dutch automaker proved unable to make a go of it, either, and finally shut it down a year later. Much of Saab's assets were acquired by National Electric Vehicle Sweden, which in turn is partially owned by the Chinese city of Qingdao, which pledged to get production back online by the end of the year.
NEVS has apparently made good on its promise, bringing 600 workers back to the factory to resume production of the 9-3 much as it was when a workforce of 3,500 labored on it and its stablemates prior to the bankruptcy. The reborn 9-3 will be sold in Sweden and in China, with an electric version to bring some other updates sometime next year.