A well-known motto of the Saab corporation “Born from jets” reflects in some way the history of the creation of the first Saab car. It was produced by sixteen airplane engineers and therefore was based on the design of an airplane. The sence of a motto is that the quality and safety of Saab cars may be equaled with the quality and safety of airplanes. At present time Saab automobiles manufacture is a prerogative of General Motors corporation, but Saab aircraft division is still governed by the Swedish Saab corporation. So let's take a digression into the history of Saab corporation.
The make Saab made its appearance in 1937 with the designing of airplanes for the Swedish Air Force. From this point on it has been specializing in building military aircrafts, including fighter jets for NATO. Owing to their high reliability Saab aeroplanes were recognized all over the world.
Since 1949 Saab specialists have been involved in the manufacture of well-engineered cars. The peculiarity of Saab cars consists in the aerodynamic design that helps in fuel economy. This distinctive feature is observed in all Saab models. Safety is one of fundamental priorities of Saab automobiles. The engineers of this company use all the latest technological achievements 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 forth.
In 1980s owing to the global economy growth and the spread of multinational corporations the Saab company confronted difficulties in maintaining its position in the competition struggle. This led to the separation of the Saab car division and its selling to a certain number of investors. The principal investor has become General Motors (GM) that owns 50 per cents of the business.
The line of Saab models has lately been supplemented with the first sport utility vehicle (SUV). All the models are regularly updated in correspondence with the demands of the market. But still, there are arguments about growing influence of General Motors. Numerous discussions are led with respect to the ability of Saab to maintain its uniqueness and to compete with such famous European makes as Volvo, BMW and Mercedes.
Despite all these facts the amateurs of Saab vehicles do not lose hope that its aeroplane heritage will help them to create unique and reliable cars.
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