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Saab Automobile AB is a subsidiary of General Motors . Once a Swedish Automobile maker, Saab Automobile now manufactures cars in Japan, the USA and Sweden. Until 1990 the company was owned by SAAB , an acronym for "Svenska aeroplanaktiebolaget" (The Swedish Aeroplane Company), which also included SAAB Aerospace and truck manufacturer Scania . General Motors bought half of Saab Automobile in 1990, with an option to acquire the entire company within a decade. Before exercising that option GM shared its ownership of Saab Automobile with Investor AB , the main owner of Saab. In March 2005 , it was announced that GM would move the production of the next-generation Saab 9-3 from Trollhättan to their Opel plant in Rüsselsheim , Germany . Current models are the 9-3 and 9-5 , both of which are manufactured in Trollhättan , Sweden ; the Saab 9-2X , which is manufactured in Japan ; and the Saab 9-7X SUV , manufactured in the United States . Despite frequent claims that their cars are "born from jets," Saab Automobile is no longer connected to the aircraft concern. COMPETITION HISTORY Some of the early cars such as the Two-stroke rs, V4 s and Saab 99 were quite successful in Rally sport, notably the 96 in the 1960s RAC Rally and Monte Carlo Rally , driven by Erik Carlsson .
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
TRIVIA Saab cars are subjected to the Moose Test (aka elk test). In order to increase production volume, Saab helped Valmet to start a car factory in Uusikaupunki (Nystad), Finland . Since 2003 , Saab no longer manufactures any cars in Finland as the production of the ''9-3 Convertible '' was moved to Graz , Austria . A common feature of Saab car types is the use of the number ''9'' in the model numbers. Current models are the 9-3 and 9-5 , both which are manufactured in Trollhättan , Sweden , and the 9-2X and 9-7X , which are manufactured by Subaru and General Motors . The exception to this naming rule is the Saab 600, which was a Rebadged Lancia Delta . All modern Saabs (except the 9000 and 9-2X ) instead have a floor-mounted ignition. Saab believes this is a safer position in case of an accident. The driver's knee often jerks upward in a collision; the compact and dense ignition module on the steeering column of many other cars has shattered many kneecaps. Second, the floor-mounted position yields more space, allowing modern Saabs to have a metal bar that rotates over and up into the ignition when the key is turned to the "Lock" position. This makes Saabs very challenging to hotwire. Last of all, the ignition is located on the floor because, in the airplanes that inspired Saab automobiles, the throttle controls were all located down on the floor. Originally Saabs also had the key located on the right side of the steering column, but when they changed from a column shifter to a floor shifter, the ignition key followed along, except in the Sonett III and 9000. In 1986 the Saab Long Run took place. Three standard Saab 9000 Turbos set 2 world records and 21 international records at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama , USA. 100,000 km (62,137 miles) were covered with an average speed of 213.299 km/h (132.537 mph) and 50,000 miles (80,467 km) with an average speed of 213.686 km/h (132.778 mph). Ten years later, in 1996 , three standard Saab 900 (NG) Turbos driven by factory test drivers and two standard Naturally Aspirated Saab 900s driven by Journalist s set new world records on the same speedway. In 1987 , Saab created a TV Advertisement called "Saab suite" (subtitled ''Ballet in 3 acts for 8 SAAB 9000 Turbos''). In the film, stunt drivers show incredible driving with stock cars, such as one-wheeled burnouts, bumper-to-bumper driving through a slalom, cars slaloming from opposite directions on the same course, two-wheel driving, sliding in full speed, and jumping over passing cars—all on a closed airport runway with Classical Music playing in the background. Click Here to view the video . Saab formed a ''Performance Team'', which laid on exhibitions of automobile acrobatics and formation driving. Initially this was done with Saab 9000s, as above, then later models, such as the Saab 900 (NG) were used. The picture shows these vehicles on display at the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the Saab Aircraft Company , at Linköping , in 1997. CRITICISM OF GM'S MANAGEMENT OF SAAB In 1990 GM purchased half of Saab (and bought the other half ten years later) in what is now seen as an impulse buy. Saab loyalists have long criticised GM's Badge Engineering of Saab products. This criticism reached a fever-pitch with the introduction of the Subaru-derived 9-2X (derisively called the "Saabaru" by American critics) and the Chevrolet-derived 9-7X SUV. The 9-2X sold very poorly, with Saab barely managing to sell a few thousand of them. Likewise, the 9-7X SUV has garnered slow sales when compared to competing brands. The Saab brand overall has not been a money-maker for GM, with total losses 1990-2005 exceeding 2 billion UsD, showing black digits only two of these years. The losses are all the more daunting because Saab, in 2005, posted record unit sales in Europe, its core market. These losses led GM's most vocal investor, Kirk Kerkorian 's Tracinda Corporation , to renew its call for GM to cut its losses and dump the Swedish brand. However, there did not seem to be any parties interested in acquiring the brand. In late March, 2006, it was reported that Mr. Kerkorian reversed his position and now is a supporter of the Saab brand (he had also voiced criticism of GM's Hummer brand). MODELS Historical models convertible]]
Current models , Sweden, on the occasion of SAAB's Diamond Jubilee]]
Experimental vehicles and prototypes (Ursaab)]]
SAAB IN POPULAR CULTURE '' where James Bond drives a SAAB 900.]] SAABs are notable for having inspired several Popular Songs :
SAAB cars can also been seen in several popular movies (see also IMCDB ):
SAAB cars can also been seen in several TV series:
SAAB cars are also mentioned in several novels:
A Hewlett-Packard CPU-support chip features a Saab 900 Turbo 16 Cabriolet. {Link without Title} {Link without Title} SEE ALSO
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