Saab was originally a division of Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (English: Swedish Airplane Limited), which had been created in 1937 in Linköping. The company had been established in 1937 for the express purpose of building aircraft for the Swedish Air Force to protect the country’s neutrality as Europe moved closer to war. As the war drew towards a close and the market for fighter planes evaporated, the company began looking for new markets in which to diversify.
Svenska Aeroplan AB (1948–1969)
In 1944, Project 92 began, with the goal of creating the first Saab passenger car. The result, the Saab 92001 (or Ursaab), was unveiled three years later, with a design that highlighted the company’s roots in aviation. Notably, the car’s drag coefficient of 0.30 was the lowest of any production car of the time.
Three years into Project 92, a company site in Trollhättan was converted to allow automobile assembly and the project moved there. The company has remained headquartered there since.
In 1949, Saab was ready to bring the car to market, and the Saab 92 went into production, selling 20,000 examples through the mid-1950s.
The 92 was thoroughly redesigned and reengineered in 1955, and accordingly was renamed the Saab 93. The car’s engine gained a cylinder, going from two to three and its front fascia became the first to sport the first incarnation of Saab’s trademark trapezoidal radiator grill. A wagon variant, the Saab 95, was added in 1959.
The decade also saw Saab’s first foray into performance motoring with the Saab 94, the first of the four Saab Sonetts.
1960 saw the third major revision to the 92’s platform in the Saab 96. The 96 was an important model for Saab: it was the first Saab to be widely exported out of Sweden. It proved very popular, selling nearly 550,000 examples.
Even more important to the company’s fortunes was 1968’s Saab 99. The 99 was the first all-new Saab in 19 years, and unlike its predecessors, severed all ties with the 92. The 99 had many innovations and features that would come to define Saabs for decades: wraparound windscreen, self-repairing bumpers, headlamp washers and side-impact door beams.
The design by Sixten Sason was no less revolutionary than the underlying technology, and elements like the Saab “hockey stick” profile graphic continue to influence Saab design.
Saab-Scania (1969–1989)
In 1969, Saab merged with the Swedish commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania-Vabis AB to form Saab-Scania AB.
The 99 range was expanded in 1973 with the addition of a combi coupe model, a body style which quickly became synonymous with Saab. Owing to its great success, the millionth Saab was produced in 1976.
Saab entered into an agreement with Fiat in 1978 to sell a rebadged Lancia Delta as the Saab 600 and jointly develop a new platform. The agreement yielded 1985’s Saab 9000, sister to the Alfa Romeo 164, Fiat Croma and Lancia Thema; all rode atop a common Type Four chassis. The 9000 was Saab’s first proper luxury car.
1978 also was the first year for the 99’s intended replacement: the Saab 900. Nearly one million 900s would be produced, making it Saab’s best-selling model. A popular convertible version followed in 1986, making up nearly 20% of 900 sales.
General Motors ownership (1989–2010)
In 1989, the Saab car division of Saab-Scania was restructured into an independent company, Saab Automobile AB, headquartered in Sweden; General Motors and Investor AB controlled 50% each. GM’s investment of US $600 million gave them the option to acquire the remaining shares within a decade.
GM’s involvement spurred the launch of a new 900 in 1994. The new car shared a platform with the Opel Vectra. Due in large part to its success, Saab earned a profit in 1995 for the first time time in seven years.
1997 marked Saab’s 50th anniversary as an automaker. The company used their jubilee owner’s convention to launch a replacement for the aging 9000: the Saab 9-5. The 900 received a facelift and renaming complimentary to its new larger sibling: it would now be called the Saab 9-3. The 9-5 was the first Saab without a combi coupe bodystyle option in twenty years. Filling that space was a wagon variant, introduced in 1999.
GM exercised their option to acquire the remaining Saab shares in 2000, spending US $125 million to the turn the company into a wholly-owned subsidiary.
The newly close relationship yielded its first product in 2003’s all-new 9-3. The new model, marketed as a sport sedan, dropped Saab’s iconic hatchback in favor of a more conventional four-door approach. The model shared a platform and components with the Vectra again, but the relationship was much closer than had been in the past.
Under GM’s direction, the badge-engineered Saab 9-2X (based on the Subaru Impreza) and Saab 9-7X (based on the Chevrolet Trailblazer) were introduced in the American market in 2005 with the hope of increase sales. Both models were a critical and commercial failure and were scrapped a few years after production. GM also delayed the 9-3 wagon by three years, canceled a 9-5 replacement in 2005 and announced a planned shift of production away from Saab’s historic home in Trollhättan to Opel’s factory in Rüsselsheim.
Owing to fading fortunes across their entire business, GM announced that the Saab brand was “under review” in December 2008, a process which included the possibility of selling or shuttering the carmaker. Reportedly, 27 potential buyers emerged, including BMW, Fiat, Geely, Hyundai, Magna, Renault and Tata Motors; serious talks progressed with three bidders: Koenigsegg, Merbanco and Renco Group.
As the talks progressed, GM’s support receded, and the company went into administration, the Swedish equivalent of America’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Saab’s managing director Jan-Åke Jonsson said that this was "the best way to create a truly independent entity that is ready for investment". For its part, the Swedish government was reluctant to become involved, with Maud Olofsson, industry minister, saying: “The Swedish state and taxpayers in Sweden will not own car factories. Sometimes you get the impression that this is a small, small company but it is the world’s biggest automaker so we have a right to make demands.”
On June 16, 2009, Koenigsegg, the Swedish supercar maker, announced their intentions to purchase the brand from GM.[8] The bid was backed by a group of Norwegian investors and the Chinese carmaker BAIC. The following month, both parties announced that GM had had consented to the deal. There were outstanding financial details, but a loan from the European Investment Bank was expected to cover them. The loan was approved in October, but on November 24, Koenigsegg announced that it had “come to the painful and difficult conclusion that it could no longer carry out the acquisition.”
BAIC’s involvement was rewarded when a deal was announced on December 14 that gave the Chinese automaker the intellectual property rights and production equipment for the first generation Saab 9-3 and Saab 9-5 in a deal worth US$200 million. BAIC has expressed their intent to create a new brand around the purchased technology and admitted to the purchase of "three overall vehicle platforms, two engine technologies and two transmission systems."
Following the collapse of talks with Koenigsegg, GM announced that the brand would be eliminated in 2010 if it failed to secure a buyer before the close of 2009. As talks with several firms failed, including the Netherlands-based boutique supercar maker Spyker, GM formally announced their intention to wind down the Saab brand.
Undeterred, a new offer round materialized. Earlier bidders Spyker and Merbanco revised offers and were joined by a submission from Luxembourg-based Genii Capital, who boasted the support of F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone. GM continued accepting bids until a self-imposed deadline of January 7, 2010. Acknowledging that the chances for reaching a deal with any party were very slim, they pledged to evaluate each offer with due diligence.
However, on 25 January 2010, Spyker shares surged 77% on suggestions that an acquisition was near.
Sale to Spyker (2010)
On January 26, 2010, General Motors confirmed that Spyker and General Motors had come to an agreement allowing Spyker to purchase Saab, subject to regulatory and government approval; the sale was completed in February 2010. General Motors will continue to supply Saab with engines, transmissions and also completed vehicles in the shape of the new Saab 9-4x from GM's Mexican factory. The deal includes a loan from the European Investment Bank, guaranteed by the Swedish government. It comprises $74m in cash up front, payable to GM by July 2010, and shares in Spyker to the tune of $320m (US).
Saab announced that it was going to build its US headquarters in Royal Oak, Michigan A new Saab 9-3 was confirmed for 2012 while production restarted at the Saab plant in Sweden in March 2010.
