Saab Automobile

Saab Automobile AB is a car manufacturer founded in Sweden in 1945 when its parent company, SAAB AB, started a small car construction project. The first production model, the Saab 92, was introduced in the year 1949. In 1968 the parent company merged with Scania-Vabis, and ten years later the Saab 900 was launched, which later became Saab’s best-selling model. In the mid-1980s a new model of the Saab 9000 appeared. In 1989, the Saab-Scania car division was rebranded into a private company, Saab Automobile AB. American manufacturer General Motors (GM) has taken a 50 percent ownership stake with an investment of US $ 600 million. Two well-known brands to come out of the season are Saab 9-3 and Saab 9-5. Then, in 2000, GM used its remaining 50 percent option to acquire 125 million US dollars; thus turning Saab Automobile into a wholly owned GM company. In 2010 GM sold Saab Automobile AB to Dutch car manufacturer Spyker Cars N.V.

After struggling hard to avoid a year-long debt default, the company applied for a deduction after the Chinese corporation’s failure to end the company’s acquisition; the acquisition was banned by the former owner of GM, which opposed the transfer of technology and manufacturing rights to a Chinese company. On June 13, 2012, it was announced that the newly formed National Electric Vehicle Sweden purchased the Saab Automobile bank. According to “Saab United”, the first NEVS Saab 9-3 canceled its production line before 19 September 2013. The full production resumed on 2 December 2013, initially with fuel similar to the 9-3 Aero sedans built before Saab has gone to the bank, and intended to make the automaker’s supply chain redesign as it attempts to develop a new line of NEVS-Saab products.

Saab Logo

Saab produced various models at the Valmet Automotive plant in U Winterupunki, Finland, between 1969 and 2003, in the partnership established in 1968 with Valmet. After 2003 Saab did not make cars in Finland, as the 9-3 revolutionary production then moved to Graz, Austria. In 2010 the production of the 9-3 convertible was exported to Trollhättan. This marked the first time that Trollhättan produced a 9-3 conversion.

Saab Gripen Cockpit

Saab Automobile

A common feature of Saab car models is the use of the number 9 in model numbers. The final models were 9-3 and 9-5, both of which were made in Tollhättan, Sweden. Until 2008, the 9-7X was produced by GM and the Chevrolet Trailblazer and its platform-mates. An exception to this naming rule is the Saab-Lancia 600, which was a rebuilt Lancia Delta. In December 2013, News announced that the Saab 9-3 sedan was back and regular, with changing vehicles, stations, and electric models to be followed the following year.

Saab competed in the Trans Am Series in 1966, entering 96 with 850. Saab also went 9-3 in the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship. Saab had a factory assembly team consisting of successful drivers, Erik “On-the-Roof” Carlsson, Tom Trana, Simo Lampinen, Stig Blomqvist, and Per Eklund. The team stopped competing in 1980. In 2012 a new Saab tournament team participated in the historic Midnattssolsrallyt. The S2AB Historic Rally team entered the four Saab 99 Turbos, run by leading athletes Ola Strömberg, Erik Uppsäll, Travis Decker and Jörgen Trued. S2AB is a company led by Magnus Roland, a former chassis manager at Saab.