Saab cars of Australia: A brief history
Saab cars were sold in Australia from the 1960s, arriving alongside other European imports such as Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen as British-built cars lost ground to locally-built six-cylinder models from Holden, Ford and Chrysler. The Saab 96 - the model that carried Saab's sales through most of the 1960s - was among the earliest cars imported. Surviving Australian-delivered Saabs on display at Launceston's National Automobile Museum date back to 1961, giving a rough marker for when the marque had an established local presence.
The Saab 99 arrived in the 1970s and built a strong local following, particularly the 99 Turbo. Wheels magazine's July 1978 road test noted its acceleration was close to that of far larger five-seat cars, and Modern Motor was similarly impressed with the turbocharged engine's performance from just 2.0 litres.
One piece of local trivia worth noting is the Saab 900 Enduro, a special version of the 1980 Saab 900 Turbo commissioned by Saab Australia purely for the Australian market. Only twelve were built and eleven delivered (with one reportedly written off by a journalist before delivery), making it a genuine piece of Saab's Australian history.
The General Motors years
From 1990, General Motors held a 50% stake in Saab Automobile, taking full ownership in 2000. During the late 1980s and through the GM years, Australia was named as one of Saab's key international markets alongside Europe and Japan. Holden and Saab also had engineering ties under the GM umbrella - Saab's 9-3 used a version of the Alloytec V6 engine built at Holden's Fishermans Bend plant, and the two brands had explored shared engine development as early as 1993.
The end of new Saab sales in Australia
General Motors sold Saab Automobile to Dutch manufacturer Spyker Cars in 2010. Spyker struggled to keep the business afloat, and Saab Automobile ceased production and filed for bankruptcy in December 2011. The Australian distributor, Saab Australia, followed shortly after: with debts unresolved and a prospective buyer unable to reach a deal, the business was placed into administration in early 2012, its Port Melbourne premises closed and remaining new-car stock sold off. This effectively marked the end of new Saab sales in Australia, after roughly five decades on the local market.
A later ownership group, National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), acquired Saab's bankrupt estate in 2012 and briefly resumed limited production of the 9-3 in Sweden, but this did not lead to a return of new Saab sales in Australia.
Saab Timeline
|
Year |
Milestone |
|
1937 |
Saab is founded in Trollhättan, Sweden, as an aircraft manufacturer. |
|
1946 |
Development of Saab's first passenger car begins. |
|
1947 |
The first production Saab car is introduced. |
|
1955 |
The Saab 93 enters production and becomes a commercial success. |
|
1960 |
Saab acquires AB Nyköpings Automobilfabrik (ANA). |
|
1967 |
The Saab 99 is unveiled. |
|
1968 |
Saab merges with Scania-Vabis to form Saab-Scania. |
|
1989 |
Saab Automobile is established as a separate company. General Motors acquires a 50% ownership stake. |
|
2000 |
General Motors purchases the remaining shares of Saab Automobile. Saab Group exits passenger car manufacturing completely. |
|
2011 |
Saab Automobile AB files for bankruptcy, ending Saab car production. |
|
1937-present |
Saab continues to operate as a global leader in defence, security and aerospace technology. |