SAAB/Scania

With the attainment of Saab's 50th anniversary in 1997 and Scania's centenary in 1991, Saab-Scania has completed 150 years of progress collectively - a notable achievement and one worthy of celebration! For to have been an aircraft builder for 50 years and an automobile manufacturer for almost a century places the Company in the ranks of the pioneers.

The first products included kerosene-burning autos with horizontal cylinders and propeller aircraft powered by piston engines - items symbolic of the very infancy of motoring and aviation. Much has happened since that time. The Company has adopted new technologies, witnessed the many phases of technical progress and authored many significant innovations. In short, Saab-Scania has been involved in shaping the course of developments.

The reflection of these development of the products over the years has prompted the documentation of this information, which tells the story of the entire range of aircraft from the Saab 17 to the JAS 39 Gripen and cars from the pristine 92 to the Saab 9000.

Saab-Scania products are the tangible result of decades of accumulated knowledge and experience gathered from both successes and failures - a "reservoir" of knowhow passed from generation to generation, and from product to product. In this context, what could be more appropriate than to describe the results of those labors? Or to dedicate this tribute to all the employees, past and present - those who contributed to making Saab-Scania what it is today and their successors who continue to work for its prosperity?

The Company has undergone a continuous process of development and change accordingly as its cars and aircraft have evolved. In common with all industrial concerns, it has been obliged to adapt continuously to changing conditions, both within the organization and the world about it.

Saab - Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget - was founded in 1937 as the cornerstone of an effective Swedish aircraft industry, at a time when the clouds of war were beginning to gather over Europe. In 1945, in the hope of a lasting peace, the Company decided to scale down its production of military aircraft and to develop its civilian operation - a change in policy signified by the appearance of the Saab 90 Scandia airliner and in the Saab 92 car.

The advent of the Cold War, followed by the outbreak of the Korean War - events which demanded that all available capacity be devoted to the production of military aircraft - resulted in the demise of Scania. Fortunately, however, car production had arrived to stay.

The 50s, 60s, and 70s were characterized by continuity and expansion. During this period, Saab developed and built military aircraft, mainly for the Swedish Defense Forces, and small cars for the Scandinavian market.

By the end of the 1970s, the Company had arrived at something of a crossroads.It was again clear that survival as an independent and expanding aircraft manufacturer would require not only greater concentration on the civilian market, but expansion on an international scale. A future based upon the production of products for the Swedish Air Force regardless of the significance of this activity to Saab-Scania or the nation, would no longer be viable. Furthermore, it became apparent that continued existence would depend on the development of more exclusive models, mainly for export.

This was the background to a series of major decisions taken by the Board in the late 70s and early 80s, regarding the future "mix" of automotive and aerospace products. From these emerged the Saab 9000, the RBS15 anti-shipping missile, the Saab SF 3000 airliner, the JAS 39 Gripen military aircraft, the Viking research satellite and the Tele-X communications satellite.

The Saab SF340 differs from the other products in that it represents Saab-Scania's commitment to a new area - that of civil aviation. Since the essentially long-term nature of industrial projects applies particularly to the automotive and aviation industries, the successful development of this activity demands precisely the same qualities of perseverance and patience as those applied to the car and truck sectors at the development stage. Saab-Scania has inherited these qualities.

The decisions taken in 1979-80 were characterized by the high level of risk involved and by the projected time scale of the effects. This, combined with the fact that Saab-Scania's financial position was by no means comparable with its standing today, made the decisions significant not only in themselves, but as testimony to the Company's faith in the future. These commitments were made on the basis of one factor alone - the people that make Saab-Scania.

It is our earnest hope that the qualities of tradition and renewal symbolized by the Griffen logo will continue to characterize the Saab-Scania of the future.

Saab history content and pictures taken from "The First 40 Years of Saab Cars," Bjorn-Eric Lindh, Forlagshuset Norden AB, 1987