23/06/2005 - Saab Reaches Four Million Milestone

A Saab 9-3 SportCombi model established a production milestone for the brand this week (21 June) by becoming the four millionth Saab car to be built.

At 14.35 hours CET, the fusion blue 9-3 SportCombi 2.0t - one of the first examples of the newly-announced model - rolled off the production line at Saab's Trollhättan plant in Sweden and was taken straight to the Saab Museum, where it will go on display among a pantheon of historic exhibits.

Saab's four millionth milestone has been reached 55 years and six months after the Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (Swedish Aircraft Company Limited), commonly known as 'Saab', produced its first car at the same Trollhättan plant, formerly used to build aircraft. That car was a small, teardrop-shaped 92 model, the beginning of the company's diversification into the automotive business.

As the brand moves further into the premium segment, Saab production milestones are being reached with increasing regularity. The millionth car - a Saab 99 Combi Coupé - was rolled out in January 1976, the two millionth - a Saab 9000 Turbo - in March 1987 and the three millionth - a Saab 9-5 sedan - in October 1997. Now the four million mark has been reached less than eight years later.

The best selling model of all-time is still the classic, first generation Saab 900, of which 908,810 were produced between 1978 and 1993. Number two in the list is the Saab 99 (588,643 units), third is the Saab 96 (547,221), fourth the Saab 9000 (503,087) and fifth the current Saab 9-5 series (392,048).

Today, the Saab brand offers customers more product choice than ever before. The current Saab 9-3 range includes Sport Sedan, SportCombi and Convertible variants. the 9-5 series offers Sedan and SportCombi formats and, in the United States, the Saab 9-2X and 9-7X add all-wheel-drive, sport compact and SUV versatility.