| A well-known slogan of the Saab company “Born from jets” mirrors in some way the history of making the first Saab automobile. It was manufactured by 16 aircraft engineers and therefore was based on the airplane design. The meaning of a slogan is that the quality and reliability of Saab automobiles may be equaled with the quality and safety of airplanes. Today Saab cars production is carried out by GM company, but Saab jet division is still governed by the Swedish Saab corporation. So let us take an excursion into the history of Saab company.
The brand Saab appeared in 1937 with the manufacture of airplanes for the Swedish Air Force. Ever since it has concentrated on building military jets, including fighter aircrafts for NATO. Thanks to their high reliability Saab jets were recognized world over.
Since 1949 Saab experts have been involved in the construction of well-engineered cars. The distinguishing characteristic of Saab cars consists in the aerodynamic design that helps in fuel economy. This distinctive characteristic is observed in all Saab models. Reliability is one of major priorities of Saab vehicles. The specialists of this corporation use all the latest technological advances to make their automobiles reliable and modern. Among such innovations there are: self-repairing bumpers, self-cleaning headlamps, turbo charged engines, air filters and so on and so forth.
In 1980s owing to the global economy growth and the spread of multinational corporations the Saab company faced difficulties in maintaining its position on the market. This led to the separation of the Saab car unit and its selling to a number of investors. The major investor has become General Motors that possesses 50 per cents of the business.
The line of Saab models has lately been supplemented with the first SUV. All the other models get regular updates according to the requirements of the market. But still, there are arguments about increasing impact of GM. Numerous discussions are led on account of the ability of Saab to maintain its uniqueness and to compete with such celebrated European brands as Mercedes, Volvo and BMW.
In spite of all these facts the amateurs of Saab vehicles do not lose hope that its aircraft heritage will help them to design unique and reliable cars. |
