In 1937 started Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (SAAB) in Trollhättan as a manufacturer of military aircraft. After World War II was the choice for making cars for the hand. With the aircraft gained expertise in the field of aerodynamics SAAB had a good position for the automotive industry.
In 1969 Saab merged with the Swedish truck manufacturer Scania and in 1990 the company was split into two parts: the aircraft (Saab) and the car manufacturer (Saab Automobile), since the names are spelled with lower case. Of the last section was 50% owned by the Wallenberg family and 50% of General Motors from January 2000 Saab was a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors.