8.14 Sweden

• 8.14.1. Saab

• In 1945 the aircraft manufacturer Saab decided to diversify and start producing cars.

• By 1946 they had produced a prototype called “ursaab” (original Saab). It was designated 92001/XP92 (the previous 91 designs being for aircraft).

• Saab produced their first production 92 model in 1949. When production ceased in 1956 just over 20,000 had been made.

• The 749 cc 93 model was produced from 1955 to 1960, the 94 (1956), the GT750 (1958-62) and the estate car 95 (1959-78).

• In 1960 Saab intoduced the 96 model as a successor to the 93. By the time production ended in 1980 nearly 550,000 had been made.
  
  

• By early 1970 the company had manufacturerd 500,000 cars.

• The first of Saab’s larger cars, the 1,709 cc 99 model, entered production in 1968. In about 1972 a two litre engine was fitted.

• Saab had produced just over 588,000 of these models by 1984 when production ceased.

• In 1978, Saab and Fiat agreed to cooperate and they developed a car which went into production in 1984/5 as the Saab 9000.

• Other models produced between 1960 and 1990 include the 97, 90, 900.

• Models available in 2007 include the 9-3 Sports Saloon, 9-3 Convertible, 9-5  Saloon and 905 Estate.

• 8.14.2. Volvo

• In 1927 Volvo started production of its first car, the OV4. In 1926, the company produced ten protoype models. Just under 1,000 OV4 cars were manufactured between 1927 and 1929.
  
  

• In 1933 Volvo produced a one off concept car called the Venus Bilo, which led to the production of the two-door coupe PV 36 Carioca model (1935-40).

• Volvo also produced the PV 51 (1936) and the 3.7 litre PV 52 (1937-38) models during the 1930s.

• In 1944 the company produced the 1,414 cc PV444 but the model did not go into production until 1947.

• In 1958 it was replaced by the PV544, a car which was made until 1965.

• Between 1947 and 1965 Volvo produced 440,000 of these two models.

• The Amazon model was introduced in 1956/7 as an alernative to the PV with nearly 300,000 sold in Sweden by 1970 when production ended.

• About 20 other models were produced by 1980, including the Duett (1953-69), the 120 (1961-72), the 140 with over 1.2 million sold (1966-74), the best selling 200 Series with over 2.8 million sold (1974-93) and the 300 Series (1976-91).

• Models produced in 2007 include the S40, 60, 80, V50, 70, C70 and C30.