Saab Automobile AB was a\u00a0car manufacturer\u00a0that was founded in\u00a0Sweden\u00a0in 1945 when its parent company,\u00a0Saab AB (which made planes for a while), began a project to design a small automobile.\u00a0It ended up being one of the coolest and most innovative automotive manufacturers in the world. <\/strong><\/p>\n Saab AB<\/a>, \u201cS<\/em>venska\u00a0A<\/em>eroplan\u00a0A<\/em>ktieb<\/em>olaget\u201d (Swedish for \u201cSwedish aeroplane corporation\u201d), a Swedish aerospace and defence company, was created in 1937 in\u00a0Link\u00f6ping. The company had been established in 1937 for the express purpose of building aircraft for the\u00a0Swedish Air Force\u00a0to protect the country\u2019s neutrality as Europe moved closer to\u00a0World War II<\/a>. As the war drew to a close and the market for fighter planes seemed to weaken, the company began looking for new markets to diversify.<\/p>\n An automobile design project was started in 1945 with the internal name \u201cX9248\u201d.\u00a0The design project became formally known as \u201cProject 92\u201d; the\u00a092<\/em>\u00a0being next in production sequence after the\u00a0Saab 91<\/a>, a single engine trainer aircraft. In 1948, a company site in\u00a0Trollh\u00e4ttan\u00a0was converted to allow automobile assembly and the project moved there, along with the car manufacturing headquarters, which has remained there since. The company made four prototypes named \u201cUrsaab\u201d or \u201coriginal Saab\u201d, numbered 92001 through to 92004, before designing the production model, the\u00a0Saab 92<\/a>, in 1949.<\/p>\n The Saab 92 went into production in December 1949. 20,000 cars were sold through the mid-1950s. The 92 was thoroughly redesigned and re-engineered in 1955, and was renamed as the \u201cSaab 93\u201d. The car\u2019s engine gained a cylinder, going from\u00a0two<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0three<\/a>\u00a0and its front fascia became the first to sport the first incarnation of Saab\u2019s trademark trapezoidal radiator grill. A wagon variant, the\u00a0Saab 95<\/a>, was added in 1959. The decade also saw Saab\u2019s first performance car, the\u00a0Saab 94<\/a>, the first of the\u00a0Saab Sonetts<\/a>.<\/p>\n 1960 saw the third major revision to the 92\u2019s platform as the\u00a0Saab 96<\/a>. The 96 was an important model for Saab: it was the first Saab to be widely exported out of Sweden. The unusual vehicle proved very popular, selling nearly 550,000 examples. Unlike American cars of the day, the 93, 95 and 96 all featured the 3-cylinder 2-cycle engine, which required adding oil to the gasoline tank, front-wheel drive, and freewheeling, which allowed the driver to downshift the on-the-column manual shifter without using the clutch. Front seat shoulder belts were also an early feature.<\/p>\n Even more important to the company\u2019s fortunes was 1968\u2019s\u00a0Saab 99<\/a>. The 99 was the first all-new Saab in 19 years and a clean break from 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\u00a0Sixten Sason<\/a>\u00a0was no less revolutionary than the underlying technology, and elements like the\u00a0Saab hockey stick<\/a>\u00a0profile graphic continue to influence Saab\u2019s design language.<\/p>\n GM exercised its option to acquire the remaining Saab shares in 2000, spending US $125\u00a0million to turn the company into a wholly owned subsidiary. The new close relationship yielded its first product in 2003\u2019s all-new 9\u20133. The new model, marketed as a sport sedan, dropped Saab\u2019s iconic hatchback in favour of a more conventional four-door approach. The model shared a co-developed platform (GM\u2019s \u201cglobal Epsilon 1 platform\u201d) and some other components with the Opel Vectra again, but the relationship was much more of a joint engineering effort than before.<\/p>\n Under GM\u2019s direction, the\u00a0badge-engineered<\/a>\u00a0Saab 9-2X<\/a>\u00a0(based on the\u00a0Subaru Impreza<\/a>) and\u00a0Saab 9-7X<\/a>\u00a0(based on the\u00a0Chevrolet Trailblazer<\/a>) were introduced in the American market in 2005 with the hope of increasing sales. Both models were a critical and commercial failure and were cancelled a few years after production began. GM also delayed the 9-3 wagon by three years, shelved a hatchback derivative of the 9-3 sedan, stalled plans for all-wheel-drive capabilities in Saab models until 2008, cancelled a 9-5 replacement in 2005, and announced a planned shift of production away from Saab\u2019s historic home in Trollh\u00e4ttan to\u00a0Opel<\/a>\u2018s factory in\u00a0R\u00fcsselsheim<\/a>.<\/p>\n Owing to fading fortunes across its entire business due to a slowing economy in 2007, GM announced that the Saab brand was \u201cunder review\u201d in December 2008, a process which included the possibility of selling or shuttering the car maker. As the talks progressed, GM\u2019s support receded, and Saab went into\u00a0administration<\/a>, the Swedish equivalent of America\u2019s\u00a0Chapter 11 bankruptcy<\/a>. Saab\u2019s managing director\u00a0Jan-\u00c5ke Jonsson<\/a>\u00a0said that this was \u201cthe best way to create a truly independent entity that is ready for investment\u201d.\u00a0For its part, the Swedish government was reluctant to become involved, with\u00a0Maud Olofsson<\/a>, industry minister, stating: \u201cThe 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\u2019s biggest automaker so we have a right to make demands.\u201d<\/p>\n On 16 June 2009, Koenigsegg announced its intention to purchase the brand from GM.\u00a0The bid was backed by a group of Norwegian investors and the Chinese car maker\u00a0Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co Ltd<\/a>\u00a0 (BAIC). The following month, both parties announced that GM had consented to the deal. There were outstanding financial details, but a loan from the\u00a0European Investment Bank<\/a>\u00a0was expected to cover them. The loan was approved in October, but on November 24, 2009, Koenigsegg announced that it had \u201ccome to the painful and difficult conclusion that it could no longer carry out the acquisition\u201d\u00a0much because of the constant delays and the difficulties coordinating the involved parties: GM, the European Investment Bank, the\u00a0Swedish National Debt Office<\/a>\u00a0and BAIC.<\/p>\n It was announced on 14 December 2009, that the Chinese automaker would acquire the intellectual property rights and production equipment for the previous generation Saab 9-3 and Saab 9\u20135 in a deal worth about US $197 million, which was enough for the company to run for three months. BAIC expressed its intention to create a new brand around the purchased technology and admitted to the purchase of \u201cthree overall vehicle platforms, two engine technologies and two transmission systems.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0As talks with several firms failed, including the Netherlands-based boutique sports car maker Spyker, GM formally announced its intention to wind down the Saab brand.<\/p>\n In the end, Saab was really quite an amazing automaker that pioneered many new technologies that we use today. Thank you for reading this article on engine-block. If you had any questions about anything in this article, feel free to visit the contact page of my website. Please continue to read through my website if you liked this.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Saab Automobile AB was a\u00a0car manufacturer\u00a0that was founded in\u00a0Sweden\u00a0in 1945 when its parent company,\u00a0Saab AB (which made planes for a while), began a project to design a small automobile.\u00a0It ended up being one of the coolest and most innovative automotive manufacturers in the world. Saab AB, \u201cSvenska\u00a0Aeroplan\u00a0Aktiebolaget\u201d (Swedish for \u201cSwedish aeroplane corporation\u201d), a Swedish aerospace […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":344131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124083,167154],"tags":[3657,21739,3734,54942],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-344130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-companies","category-daily-driver","tag-block","tag-engine","tag-history","tag-saab"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/engine-block.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1000230.jpg?w=730\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/engine-block.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/104-1041366_saab-900-convertible-pa-stance-saab-9-3.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/engine-block.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/wp2018855.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/engine-block.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/saab_mixed__wallpapers_1.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n