Saab maintained this vibe both

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In 1960, the company exported 5,000 cars. In the 1960s, Saab launched several new models, including a station wagon that became very popular with families. It also focused on the safety culture that is still associated with the Swedish car industry. From 1961, the seat belt became standard in Saab cars. "Anti-brand brand": bankruptcy of the automobile business In 1968, Saab merged with the Swedish company Scania-Vabis, which produced, among other things, cars, trucks, buses, fire trucks and diesel engines. After that, Saab-Scania found a partner in Finland – the car manufacturer Valmet. Saab-Valmet became a 50/50 joint venture between Saab-Scania and Valmet and the largest shopping data Swedish-Finnish industrial project of all time. In the first 25 years, about 700 thousand cars were produced.

The 70s and 80s were a period of continued innovation. The oil crisis created a demand for reduced fuel consumption, to which Saab responded by releasing a turbo engine. This was followed by developments in the field of electronics: automatic performance control, allowing the engine to run on gasoline with any octane number without the risk of damage, a new ignition system, automatic climate control. It should be said that Saab was never a mass producer, having a reputation as a brand for intellectuals or an "anti-brand brand". The core of its target audience were people who did not like to obey, but at the same time valued quality. Many people drive Saabs precisely because others don't, — wrote The Financial Times journalist Sam Knight.

in its sometimes eccentric design (boxy exterior, ignition system in the floor, windshield wipers for the headlights) and in its marketing (slogans like Anything but ordinary). In terms of pricing, Saab cars belonged to the luxury class, being on the same level as BMW, Mercedes or Audi. But, unlike the latter, Saab did not have a mass fan base, which made it very sensitive to financial fluctuations in the market. In the 90s, what Saab built its brand on actually killed the business. In 1989, the automobile division was separated from the parent company, creating Saab Automobile. General Motors acquired 50 percent of the shares. A new plant was then built with plans to produce 60,000 cars a year.