COMPANY

Saab is the better-known short form of Swedish car manufacturer Saab Automobile AB. Recognised for its innovation and pioneering significant advancements in ergonomics, green technology, safety and turbo-charging, the company came into being at the cusp of the second World War in 1937 in Linköping as an aircraft manufacturer. It was part of Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (Swedish Airplane Limited), that had been established to build aircrafts for the Swedish Air Force. As World War II came to an end and the market for fighter aircraft shrunk drastically, Saab literally changed gears to start producing cars instead and thus beginning the Saab saga.

The company came out with its first production model, the Saab 92, in 1949. Over a 7 year span, this car sold over 20000 units. This reasonably successful model was reengineered and redesigned and came out in different forms- the Saab 93, Saab 94, Saab 95 and then the Saab 96 in 1960. The Saab 96, which was the first model to be widely exported, was extremely popular and recorded sales of almost 550,000 units until 1980 when production was stopped.

Then came the Saab 99, the company’s first ‘large car’. This model was later fitted with a 2-litre engine in 1972. Close to 600,000 units of this model were sold till the company stopped its production in 1984.

In the meantime, Saab had joined hands with Italian car maker Fiat in 1978 to jointly develop the Saab 9000. Between1960-1990, Saab came out with models such as the Saab 97, Saab 90 and Saab 900.

US auto giant General Motors acquired Saab in 1990. Most recently, Dutch automobile manufacturer Spyker Cars NV acquired the company in February 2010.

Saab has been appointed the exclusive automobile Royal Warrant holder by the King of Sweden.