Editing Saab Automobile (section)

===General Motors and Investor AB (1989–2000)===
[[File:1st Gen Saab 9-5 Wagon 1.27.18.jpg|left|thumb|[[Saab 9-5]]]]
[[File:1992 SAAB 900S (37731253996).jpg|thumb|[[Saab 900]]]]

In 1989, the Saab car division of Saab-Scania was restructured into an independent company, Saab Automobile AB, headquartered in Sweden; [[General Motors]] and [[Investor AB]] controlled 50% each. GM's investment of US$600 million gave it the option to acquire the remaining shares within a decade. In the fall of 1989 Saab opened a {{ill|new factory|sv|Saab-fabriken i Malmö}} in [[Malmö]]. Located in the old [[Saab Kockums|Kockums shipyard]], this was a novel kind of factory with extensive worker control and a focus on workers' comfort, an effort to increase productivity and retain skilled workers. With an annual capacity of 60,000 cars (to be increased to 90,000 cars by 1995), the factory began production at a time of shrinking sales and economic contraction and only built 10,176 cars in 1990 (the only full year of production).<ref name=TV0591.18>{{cite magazine | ref = CJ91 | title = Drömfabriken blev mardröm | trans-title = The dream factory became a nightmare | language = sv | magazine = [[Teknikens Värld]] | publisher = Specialtidningsförlaget AB | location = Stockholm, Sweden | page = 18 | date = 7 March 1991 | issue = 5 | volume = 43 | editor-first = Claes | editor-last = Johansson }}</ref> After a review by GM, the factory changed over to a standard [[assembly line]] but was nonetheless shuttered in June 1991, after 20,664 cars had been built in about two years.<ref name="TV1591.15">{{cite magazine | title = Allt om bilen: PS | trans-title = All about cars: PS | language = sv | magazine = [[Teknikens Värld]] | publisher = Specialtidningsförlaget AB | location = Stockholm, Sweden | page = 15 | date = 8 August 1991 | issue = 15 | volume = 43 | editor-first = Claes | editor-last = Johansson }}</ref>

General Motors' involvement spurred the launch of a [[Saab 900 (NG)|new 900]] in 1994. The new car shared a platform with the [[Opel Vectra]]. Due in large part to its success, Saab earned a profit in 1995 for the first time in seven years. However, the model never achieved the cult following of the "classic 900" and did not achieve the same reputation for quality.

1997 marked Saab's 50th anniversary as a car manufacturer. The company used its jubilee owners' convention to launch a replacement for the aging 9000: the [[Saab 9-5]]. The 900 received a facelift and renaming complementary to its new larger sibling: it would now be called the [[Saab 9-3]]. The 9-5 was the first Saab without a combi coupé body style option in 20 years. Filling that space was a wagon variant, introduced in 1999.
{{clear}}