Saab /ˈsɑːb/ (or SAAB, an acronym for Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget), or Saab Automobile AB, is a Swedish car manufacturer.
It was formed in 1945 out of Saab AB, "Svenska Aeroplan AB (aktiebolaget)" (English: Swedish Aeroplane Limited), a Swedish aerospace and defence company, when Saab AB started a project to design a small automobile. The Saab 92, Saab's first production model, was launched in 1949. The parent company merged with Scania-Vabis in 1968, and ten years later, in 1978, launched the Saab 900, Saab's best-selling model. In the mid 1980s, the new Saab 9000 was launched and in 1989, the Saab car division of Saab-Scania was restructured into an independent company, Saab Automobile AB; General Motors (GM), with an investment of US$600 million, owned 50%. GM exercised its option to acquire the remaining Saab shares in 2000, spending US$125 million to turn the company into a wholly owned subsidiary. GM sold it to the Dutch automobile manufacturer Spyker Cars N.V. in 2010.
After struggling to avoid insolvency throughout 2011, the company petitioned the Swedish court for bankruptcy following the failure of a Chinese consortium to complete a purchase of the company; the purchase had been blocked by former owner GM, which opposed the transfer of technology and production rights to a Chinese company. On June 13, 2012 it was announced that the National Electric Vehicle Sweden had bought Saab Automobile's bankruptcy estate.
Saab is the exclusive automobile Royal Warrant holder as appointed by the King of Sweden.
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