Saab

Saab was a Swedish company famous for their pioneering use of turbos.

From 1989, Saab began a partnership with General Motors before being bought out by them in 2000 to give GM a European luxury brand to contend with the German executive cars that were rising in popularity.

Unfortunately this lead to a period of stagnation for Saab with underfunding for new products and the 9-3 and 9-5 being left to soldier on, although they had a loyal customer base.

After the 2009 financial crisis, GM sold Saab to Spyker just as a new 9-5 and a promising small SUV, the 9-4X were released. Sadly with poor cash flow and lack of confidence from customers in the survival of the brand; by 2012 both Saab and Spyker were bankrupt.

The Saab name was bought by a Chinese company called NEVS who continued building the 9-3 for a short time, but the new cars were not transferred as GM did not want their recent designs to be acquired by a Chinese company.

There has been consistent rumours that Saab would be bought back as an electric vehicle brand, but none have come to fruition.