Saab Automobile AB, better known as Saab (English pronunciation: /ˈsɑːb/, or SAAB, an acronym for Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget), is a Swedish car manufacturer owned by Dutch automobile manufacturer Swedish Automobile NV, formerly Spyker Cars NV. It is the exclusive automobile Royal Warrant holder as appointed by the King of Sweden. Originally the automobile manufacturing division of Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (English: Swedish Airplane Limited), later known as Saab AB, Saab Automobile was acquired by General Motors in 1990 who sold it to Spyker Cars N.V. (now Swedish Automobile) in 2010.
Saab was originally a division of Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (English: Swedish Airplane Limited), which had been created in 1937 in Linköping. The company had been established in 1937 for the express purpose of building aircraft for the Swedish Air Force to protect the country's neutrality as Europe moved closer to war. As the war drew towards a close and the market for fighter planes evaporated, the company began looking for new markets in which to diversify.
In 1944, Project 92 began, with the goal of creating the first Saab passenger car. The result, the Saab 92001 (or Ursaab), was unveiled three years later, with a design that highlighted the company's roots in aviation. Notably, the car's drag coefficient of 0.30 was the lowest of any production car of the time.
Three years into Project 92, a company site in Trollhättan was converted to allow automobile assembly and the project moved there. The company has remained headquartered there since.
The 92 was thoroughly redesigned and reengineered in 1955, and accordingly was renamed the Saab 93. The car's engine gained a cylinder, going from two to three and its front fascia became the first to sport the first incarnation of Saab's trademark trapezoidal radiator grill. A wagon variant, the Saab 95, was added in 1959.
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