It seems like it was only yesterday when General Motors had little interest in keeping Saab->ke75 on its roster resulting in the Swedish brand being primed to get the proverbial ax of the guillotine.

But thanks to a last-ditch effort by Spyker->ke84, Saab lived to see another day.

And that another day has finally come after the first Saab cars produced under Spyker finally rolled out of the Trollhättan production facility.

Saab Automobile CEO Jan Jonsson was present at the plant with his Spyker counterpart, CEO Victor Mullen and plant director Gunnar Brunius to welcome the first Saab to roll off of production – a new 9-5 sedan, which was then followed by a 9-3->ke209 Convertible.

Continued after the jump.

Both head honchos were understandably ecstatic about the rebirth of Saab with Jonsson saying that the resumption of production was a milestone in Saab’s long and illustrious history."We are up and running as an independent manufacturer and I am delighted to share the experience on the line alongside our workforce,” he said. “They have shown tremendous commitment to the company and we are all now focused on ramping up production to meet customer demand."

For his part, Victor Muller was equally pleased at the progress Saab has made since Spyker acquired the beleaguered brand from General Motors. "Everyone at Saab has worked extremely hard to reach this important point. Today production restarted with a new 9-5 first down the line – a fitting symbol that a new era has begun."

Our hats off to Saab and Spyker for this ground-breaking achievement; an achievement that nobody saw coming as late as a few months ago.