Swedish automaker Saab hasn't had it easy over the past decade, and things aren't going any smoother following its Swedish-Chinese reincarnation.

National Electric Vehicles Sweden, or Nevs, has put production of the 9-3 sedan on hold, citing financing problems.

According to Autoblog, Nevs is describing the halt as a short term problem, but still says the company's long-term prospects are "very exciting and promising".

In a statement, Nevs says its short-term financial issues are due to shareholder Qingbo Investment Co. Ltd has not fulfilling its contractual obligation to finance the operations.

Since the beginning of the year, the company's finances have been solely supplied by majority owner National Modern Energy Holdings Ltd--but the company has not been able "to capitalize its assets in China as fast as needed to support Nevs".

The automaker reassures that its assets are significantly greater than its debts, but has chosen to use short-term credits to cover outstanding and near-term obligations until longer-term financing can be secured.

Nevs also says it has recently signed a frame agreement with a "major international automotive OEM" concerning cooperation on the development of a future automotive platform.

That, says the company, will help contribute financial and technical support to the company's future endeavors--perhaps hinting at an all-new model.

Its current product, the Saab 9-3, is little different from the model that ceased production before the company folded in 2012. Nevs bought Saab later that year and restarted production of the 9-3 in late 2013.

More recently, the company announced that electric 9-3s had started rolling off the line--the first of 200 cars bound for a test fleet in China.

Before production was halted, Nevs had been producing just 6 cars per day on the old line at Trollhättan in Sweden. As well as the handful of electric versions, existing models are all equipped with 2.0-liter turbocharged engines, in sporty Aero trim.

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