About Saab
Saab is a Swedish car manufacturer first established in 1935 as an aircraft manufacturer. This association is the major reason why it has always been associated with innovative cars which have safety and passenger and driver ergonomics at the forefront. The company's principal product was of course aeroplanes, but with the conflict in Europe drawing to a close, Saab began looking to diversify into new markets and cars were to be the direction it chose.
In 1944, a project was commenced with the object of creating the first Saab passenger car; 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. New models continued to be designed and manufactured until in 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, which proved very popular, selling nearly 550,000 examples.
1969 saw Saab merged with the Swedish commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania-Vabis AB to form Saab-Scania AB. In 1989, the Saab car division of Saab-Scania was restructured into an independent company, Saab Automobile AB, headquartered in Sweden. General Motors was an investor controlling 50% of the new company. GM's investment of US $600 million gave them the option to acquire the remaining shares within a decade. Owing to fading fortunes across their entire business, GM announced that the Saab brand was to be sold and it was eventually to come under the ownership of Dutch company Spyker Cars N.V.
There are many executive cars from which you can choose today, BMW, Mercedes and Audi come to mind but they also come with a price tag. You can get the refinements that you expect with a used Saab and two examples are the Saab 9-3 which is a distinctive, well priced and well equipped. Its boot is spacious, the cabin roomy, comfortable and safe. Diesel models have very low CO2 emissions and are cheap to tax as a result. Similarly the Saab 9-5 is roomy, stylish and you'll stand out from the crowd. The entry-level diesel model's low CO2 emissions keep company car tax bills down. With either of these you will enjoy refinements that are built around the lone executive, although they are fine for families, too. Seats are comfortable, the dash is brilliantly set out, and the driving seats and steering wheel adjust for the perfect driving position.
In a mission statement the company said: "The union of Saab and Spyker presents a unique opportunity to create a design that takes the best of each brand and distils their qualities into a single product," he said. Gray, who is Dutch and English, points out that a truly unique car can be assembled with the low-slung mid-engine Spyker supercar chassis and the design language at Saab".
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