Saab - Swedish car company producing passenger cars and trucks. However, history brands Saab, like many others, did not start with cars at all.
In 1937, Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (Swedish Airplane Company, SAAB for short) was formed to produce bombers and fighters. The memory of this was preserved in the history of Saab for a long time: when the company switched to the production of cars, the aircraft became the first symbol of the brand. Only in 1968 did he give way to the crowned griffin.
The first Saab car was put into production under the name 92, since the last aircraft of the Swedish brand had the index 91
At the beginning of 2013, Saab, following global trends, changed the logo to a simpler, text-based one. There are 2 options - gray and multi-colored. In the second version, each letter symbolizes one of the seasons, emphasizing the versatility of Swedish cars. It is noteworthy that for trucks and buses the logo remained the same.
Milestones in the history of Saab
At the end of the Second World War, Saab's developments in the field of aircraft construction turned out to be unclaimed, so it was decided to direct the freed up resources to the production of cars. The first prototype was presented in 1946, later, in 1949, it was launched in mass production under the name Saab 92 (the last Saab aircraft had the index 91).
Of the 16 people who built the first Saab, none had ever worked on cars before. Moreover, only two of this group had a driver's license!
However, the real commercial success did not come to the brand immediately, but only 10 years later, with the appearance on the market of the Saab 95 station wagon. In the 60s, the Saab 96 model only consolidated this success.
In 1968, the company merged with the manufacturer Scania trucks– Vabis. This merger resulted in new logo Saab (the griffin on the Scania nameplate has existed since 1900), as well as increased production facilities.
No less significant for Saab was 1989, when a controlling stake in the company passed to the American concern General Motors. In 2000, Saab Automobile AB became wholly owned by GM. At the beginning of the 21st century, General Motors, which is experiencing serious financial difficulties, is getting rid of the least profitable divisions. As a result, the new owner of the Saab brand is the Dutch supercar manufacturer Spyker.
However, under the wing of Spyker, the automaker also failed to succeed: in 2011, the Swedish court officially declared Saab bankrupt. Another "lifeline" for the brand was the company National Electric Vehicle Sweden, half of the shares in which belong to the Sino-Japanese energy consortium.
Saab achievements and victories
Saab brand cars have always stood out from their "brothers". The aviation past left its mark on the first projects of Saab: the cars were not very pretty, but with excellent aerodynamics. The first Saab 92 model with a rear-engine layout looked like a frog, but it had a very good drag coefficient of 0.35.
Author Kurt Vonnegut believed that Saab cars were the reason why he was never awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
It is interesting, by the way, that of the 16 specialists who created the Saab 92 model, no one had ever dealt with cars before. Moreover, only two of this group had a driver's license!
Later, it was in the depths of the Swedish company that the idea was born to "squeeze" out of the engine more power. As a result, in 1976, turbocharging technology appeared, which then spread throughout the world. In addition, in 1978, the Swedes were the first to come up with the idea of filtering the air entering the car interior.
The biography of the famous writer Kurt Vonnegut is associated with the Saab brand. In the 1950s, he was a sales representative for the brand in the US state of Massachusetts. However, his success as a salesman was not great, and he later joked: "My failure with car sales explains why the Swedes never awarded me the Nobel Prize in Literature!"
If speak about sports achievements brand, then the first Saab victory was very unexpected: in 1949, as part of testing a new model with an index of 92, the Swedes decided to send a novelty to local winter sports competitions. The complete triumph came as a surprise to everyone, and Saab specialists thought about releasing sports cars. The series of the most high-profile victories of the brand is associated with the name of Eric Carlson, who won the British stage of the World Rally Championship three times (in 1960, 1961 and 1962), and also became the champion of the Monte Carlo Rally twice (1962 and 1963).
Key models in the history of the Saab brand
The first model to enter foreign markets was the Saab 93, which appeared in 1954. Subsequently, it was on its basis that the sports Sonett was created - a roadster with plastic body and a 57-horsepower engine, which, in fact, opened the way for Saab to the world of motorsport.
Another one legendary model- Saab 96 - appeared in 1960. For 20 years, this car has been a real bestseller and has sold about 550,000 copies.
In 1968, the "big brother" Saab 96 entered the market - model 99. Then it did not exist yet, but the novelty, in fact, belonged to it. The English magazine Car called it a model of solidity and the safest car in Europe.
Even stronger to gain a foothold in business class. She appeared in 1984 and received the title of "Best big car" in USA.
The first joint project between Saab and General Motors. The machine was built with the most modern requirements security.
In 1997, Saab decided to go back to double-digit "names". , .
In 2011, under the index 9-4, a mid-size crossover was introduced. From 2005 to 2008, an SUV was produced under the name Saab 9-7x, which was nicknamed "Trollblazer".
Another example of successful badge engineering is the 9-2X, which was produced from 2003 to 2006 and was a slightly modified Subaru Impreza.
By the way, the aviation history of Saab also continues to this day: the Saab AB division has been producing fighters and civil aircraft for many years.
History of Saab in Russia
It would seem that Saab cars created in Scandinavia should be close Russian buyers, because they were developed for the same climatic conditions, which is what we have. However, on Russian market Saab has always been considered a "privileged" niche brand - the level of sales of Swedish cars in our country was low.
And if before the crisis of 2009 the demand for this brand was still growing (from 383 copies in 2006 to 1,269 in 2008), then sales declined sharply. In 2009, Saab sales were only 268 units. In September 2010, the sale of Saab brand cars in Russia was officially terminated.
In 2011, after getting out of the control of General Motors, Saab began to reorganize its dealer networks and decided to return to the Russian market. Models 9-3 (Sport Sedan, Sport Combi and Convertible) and 9-5 (Sport Sedan and Sport Combi) were officially presented in our country. Saab has set itself the goal of improving the pre-crisis level of sales, but experts immediately said that at the current price level, it will continue to be an "image" brand.
By the way, in 2010, when Dutch company Spyker bought Saab, there was a possibility that the production of Swedish cars would be established in Russia. Banker Vladimir Antonov, who at that time owned a 29% stake in Spyker, announced his desire to create a "Saab at a price Ford Focus"and to establish its production in our country. However, then one of the terms of the deal was the "exit from the game" of the Russian shareholder.
From the first days of its existence, they were engaged in the production of vehicles. There are many examples of this, but today we will focus on a special company. This will be the history of the Saab brand.
From planes to cars
The Swedish automotive industry was able to take its rightful place in the world market thanks to Saab, which specializes in passenger cars and trucks. Such a direction for the main activity was not immediately chosen, since initially aircraft under the Saab brand were produced mainly fighters and bombers. Even in the full name of the company there is a mention of airplanes. The image of the aircraft was present in the symbols of the first cars produced from the modernized Saab plant. The crowned griffin, familiar to us, appeared only in 1968.
When the second World War ended, the need for military aircraft has disappeared. The company was forced to quickly change its strategy further development. The bet was made on the production of automotive equipment.
First car
It didn’t take long to think about the name of the first car. The company did not change the indexing order for their new creations. If the last aircraft was produced with the index 91, then the first car only continued this tradition and acquired the name with the index 92. Large-scale production began only in 1949.
It was extremely difficult for the company to switch from airplanes to cars. The team of specialists included 16 people, none of whom had anything to do with the automotive industry. What can I say, only two employees.
Saab 92 was the first car produced by the company Initially, wooden models were created, which were blown in the Linkoping pipe. After a while, a tree model grew in front of the designers, which accurately displayed future model. After that, a team of employees could begin to create a steel body, which was made exclusively by hand. Ready car was subjected to tests, which determined its future final appearance.
From success to failure
The miracle did not happen and the Saab brand was not a resounding success. It took a decade to get interested in these cars. The creation of the Saab 95 station wagon allowed the company to draw attention to itself. Release next model was also successful.
The merger of the Saab brand and Scania– Vabis, which specialized in the production of trucks, led to the creation of a new logo and an increase production areas. In 1989 Swedish brand concern General Motors from America became interested. In a short period of joint cooperation, the Saab 900 model was created. More safe car at that time it simply did not exist.
The beginning of the 21st century was associated with financial difficulties which forced General Motors to sell off some of its divisions. This list includes the Saab brand. Its new owner was the manufacturer Spyker from Holland, which produced only supercars. But even here success was not to be expected, the brand was even declared bankrupt. The Saab story could have ended there. The situation was saved by National Electric Vehicle Sweden.
Distinctive characteristics of the models
The creations of the Swedish manufacturer were unique. they were much inferior to their competitors, but as far as aerodynamic performance was concerned, they had no equal. Still, with such a team of aviation designers! The first instance, which motorists did not like, looked like a frog, but had an unacceptable high rate drag (0.35).
Soon, Saab designers decided to increase engine power. Painstaking work began, the result of which was the creation of a turbocharging system (1976). This idea was quickly picked up by other manufacturers and began to be intensively applied in their new models. In addition to this revolutionary discovery, Swedish designers have created a system for cleaning the air entering the cabin.
Saab and motorsport
For everyone, the victory in the winter competitions in Sweden, which went to the Saab 92 in 1949, was unexpected. No one expected that a little-known and completely unpopular car would come first. This victory inspired the designers of the brand, and they directed their efforts to the development of sports cars.
Saab 93 is the first model to appear on foreign market. This car became the basis for the creation of the Sonett sports car. It was an interesting roadster with a plastic body and powerful motor. With the advent of this model, they started talking about the Saab brand.
Another creation of Swedish designers is considered legendary - model 96. For two decades, this car did not lose its popularity and brought a good income to its creator. In total, more than half a million models were sold. Saab company was the discoverer of business-class cars, although she herself did not suspect it. The 99th model was solid and safe, which was noted by solid periodic buildings. The company's success in this area was reinforced by the release of the Saab 9000, which America recognized as the best big car.
Further followed, the success of which persisted on high level even now. The company does not forget about the aviation industry, which is native to it. At one time, a special unit was created, which deals only with fighters and civil aircraft.
Three years ago (2013) the logo on Saab cars changed. It has become simpler and without any symbolism. A simple text sign can be found in two versions: gray and multi-colored. These changes only affected cars, and on trucks and buses, the symbolism has retained its former appearance.
How Russia met the new brand
At first glance, it might seem that cars that are created in cold and inhospitable Scandinavia should be to the taste of Russian drivers. But the Saab brand in the Russian market earned very little. Until 2009, sales grew slowly but steadily. And after the crisis, sales fell so much that the company was forced to stop deliveries of its products to Russia. It happened in 2010.
After breaking off relations with General Motors, the brand management restructured the dealer network and took Russia seriously. A raucous advertising campaign that was aimed at promoting 9-3 in four variations and 9-5 in three variations. The company tried with all its might to achieve a level of sales that would surpass all previously existing indicators. But Russian motorists stubbornly unwilling to accept swedish mark, raising it still to the rank of "image" cars.
Maybe in time the situation will change, safety and indeed quality will be valued more, and the history of the company will develop more rapidly. In any case, we will follow the events and twists of fate.
The first years of the company's development
After its foundation in the thirty-seventh year, the company initially produced aircraft and engines for them for the needs of the aviation of its state. But with the end of the war, state orders for the company also ended, so the company's management decided to reorient production, and soon Saab began to produce cars.
In the forty-fifth year, the country's leadership again turned its attention to the company, and the "92" project was approved. Gunnar Langstrom gathered talented engineers and designers around him, and they began work on the design of the first model. own car. But developers who for a long time engaged in the production of products for aviation, could not completely retreat from habitual forms and a prototype car was created that was significantly different from other makes and models.
A year after the start of development from scratch, a prototype was shown to the general public, which was assigned the index "92.001". The first thing that caught the eye of a potential buyer was an unusual body shape. The presented novelty had amazingly low coefficients, which denote drag car, which was achieved thanks to the calculation of aerodynamics when driving a car.
IN mass production the car came out with the index "92". The novelty had a 2-stroke engine with two cylinders, which were located perpendicular to the front axle. The car was produced until the fifty-sixth year and the total number of copies produced during this time was twenty thousand.
In the forty-ninth year, Saab produces sports cars large sizes"Standart 92" and "92 DeLuxe".
Period from the fifties to the seventies
And only in the fifty-fifth year, the company begins to release the sample "93", which received unique improvements. This car has a three cylinder engine. new system transmissions and wheels with tubeless tires. It is this model that is the first brainchild of the concern, which began to be exported.
In the fifty-sixth year, designers are trying to create a sports car model. The result of their work is "Sonett", which is recognized as experimental and was made in an extremely small number of copies - only seven pieces. On the car, which provided for the location of only two passengers, a fiberglass body was installed, which allowed it to weigh only half a ton. But along with this, the novelty had an engine with a capacity of fifty-seven liters. forces, which was able to reach speeds of up to one hundred and sixty kilometers per hour.
The fifty-ninth year was the year of the release of the Saab 95, which is considered the most successful model this company. It was with the advent of this car that the resounding commercial success of the automaker Saab began. The model of a cargo-passenger car could accommodate up to seven passengers in its cabin, depending on the chosen layout variation. It was equipped with a four speed gearbox and two-stroke engine. Some time later, a V4 engine of one and a half liters from Ford will be installed on this model.
The next model - "96" - also became the bestseller of the corporation. It was made in the sixties. This car was the leader in the number of sales of cars of this brand for twenty years. It was equipped with a three-cylinder engine with a volume of 750 cm3, and the power was equal to thirty-eight liters. forces. Three years after the launch of the model, its engine was strengthened to forty hp. forces.
From the seventy-seventh year, Saab began to produce the “96” model, on which the first V4 engine was installed, whose power was estimated at sixty-five hp. forces. The main indicator in a number of advantages of this model is its high security. For two years, from the sixtieth to the sixty-second, the racer Eric Carlson on a car of this brand won the main prizes at the world racing competitions which were held in England.
By the beginning of the eighties, the company had produced about half a million copies of the "96s" cars. Some time after the car was put on the production conveyor, they began to put door beams with increased resistance to impacts and blown brake discs on it.
In the sixty-seventh, the creation of the 99 model, which had begun in the sixty-fourth, was completed. The car was equipped with a one and a half liter four-cylinder engine, but almost immediately after the release of the first batch, the engine was replaced by a stronger one, with a capacity of 1.7 liters.
It seemed that this model had a passenger safety system everywhere. Modified headrests and three-point seat belts. The steering column post was a design that met all safety requirements in terms of possible injury to the driver.
The car model "99" gained such popularity that by the seventieth year, that is, three years after the release of the novelty on the market, sales amounted to half a million. Over the next three years, sales did not decrease, and in the seventy-third year the millionth car of this model rolled off the assembly line.
At the very end of the sixties, the manufacturer merged with Scania-Vabis AB, which was engaged in the manufacture of heavy trucks. The combined company became known as "Saab-Scania AB", and it was decided to locate the head office of the enterprise in Sweden.
next twenty years
First car joint venture became Sonett in the third generation, the design decision of which was entrusted to Sergio Coggiolo.
By the mid-seventies, turbocharged engines began to be installed on cars that rolled off the assembly line. Earlier similar engine was used on a 99 Turbo car, and when racing in Sweden, it showed good results. In the seventy-seventh 99 model, equipped with a turbo engine, was demonstrated at the auto show in Frankfurt. And without significant modifications and changes, it was produced over the next fifteen years.
With the onset of the seventy-eight year Saab began to produce models that were assigned the index "900". The car had two modifications of the body compartment: it could be three or five-door hatchbacks. And in the eighty-second, the 900 began to be produced in the sedan body. The “nine hundredth” had several generations, but it lasted on the sales market until the ninety-eighth year, then it was replaced by a car with the “9-3” index.
With the beginning of the eighties, the release limited edition sports coupe EV-1. This experimental model is still considered an outstanding project of Swedish engineers. "Sportcoupe" had a four-cylinder engine and a power of two hundred and eighty-five liters. forces. These indicators allowed him to accelerate to three hundred kilometers per hour. In parallel with this, Saab designers and engineers are finishing the creation of a novelty: the first ever auto production of a 16-valve turbocharged engine. And three years later, the company produces the "900 Turbo 16S", which has in its equipment this motor. The car becomes known all over the world under the name "Aero".
In the eighty-fourth year, the corporation begins the development of a full-size luxury car under the symbol "9000". This front-wheel drive car quickly gained popularity among models of prestigious brands. It was equipped with a two-liter engine, which was installed on the "900 Turbo 16S" and a four-speed gearbox of the model of the eighty-seventh model. The SAAB 9000 model, a sedan with an anti-skid system, was also produced. At the same time, the hatchback version ceased to be produced in the ninety-seventh, then it was replaced by "9-5", and the sedan continued to be produced for another 12 months.
The American concern General Motors redeems a controlling stake in Saab in the eighty-ninth year. The first model that is produced by the holding with a new leadership team is the Saab 9000, where the engine is located transversely, as in the Opel Vectra. A year later, the company embarks on a significant modification of the "9000 CS". An air conditioner is installed in the car, which for the first time in world history does not use freon-based refrigerant in its work. There is also a system for enhancing protection in case of possible side impacts.
Mid-nineties - our time
Since the ninety-fourth year, the production of the 900 Convertible, which is called the "cabriolet for all seasons," has started. The car has in its equipment a two-layer awning, rear window heating and a strong stove in the cabin.
Global changes take place on the company's sites in the ninety-seventh year, it was then that the "9000" replaces the "Saab 9-5". The car is produced on the basis of the Opel Vectra and is equipped with a three-liter engine, which is complemented by a novelty in the Trionic 7 control system. According to the results of 2003, the Saab 9-5 receives the title of the most reliable car produced in Sweden. And the crash tests carried out by experts proved that the models of this brand have the maximum degree of protection for all people sitting in the car from possible death or disability in various accidents. Latest developments The Saab 9-5 sedan made its debut in 2009 during a car show in Paris.
Numerous owners of Saab cars note that a kind of hallmark of the car is its interior, which, at the choice of the owner, can be decorated in a classic style using wooden elements, or decorated with metal and plastic inserts.
In the ninety-eighth year, the Saab 9-3 replaced the 900 model. But the novelty resembles the previous car in many ways, although it is manufactured with many modifications: hatchback cars with three and five doors were produced, there was even a “cabriolet” version.
The engine range was represented by five options. For the first time, a motor was installed on this machine on diesel fuel. High-speed versions of the 9-3 Viggen were also released, which had a 2.3-liter engine with a power of 225 hp. forces.
On the eve of the third millennium, General Motors acquires the remaining stake in the Swedish concern and, two years later, introduces to the market upgraded model"9-3" sedan, which is called "9-3 Sport Sedan".
In the future, the company begins to produce unique car models. In 2001, the "9-X" was introduced, the car combines the features of a pickup truck, station wagon, coupe and, surprisingly, a roadster. The manufacturers themselves call their new product a sporty, dynamic and functional car, which contains all the attractive features of the company's models.
In Geneva in 2008, the 9-X BioHybrid is presented to the public. The car received a 1.4-liter engine with two hundred liters. forces, and it is also adapted for the use of bioethanol and can be powered by an electric motor.
Negotiations are underway between Chinese companies"Youngman", "Pang Da" and Swedish concern, the main theme of which is the sale of Saab.
