Valmet Automotive

Valmet Automotive (until 1995 Saab - Valmet ) is a Finnish automobile manufacturers.

History

The company was founded in 1968 under the name Saab - Valmet in Uusikaupunki, Finland, as a joint venture between the Finnish Valmet and the Swedish Saab Scania AB. The goal was to develop car technical know-how in Finland to build a supplier network and create new jobs. The first vehicle, a Saab 96 was delivered on 13 November 1969. 1992 Valmet became the sole owner. In 1995 the company was renamed as Valmet Automotive. After the merger of Rauma and Valmet in 1999 Metso Corporation is the owner of Valmet Automotive.

The automotive sector is not one of Metso's core business. Due to the positive development potential of this area, Metso decided therefore to bring outside investors into the boat. Together with the Finnish subsidiaries Pontos Group and Finnish Industry Investment Ltd, capital base of the company has been strengthened. Both financial investors each invest ten million euro in Valmet Automotive and thus receive a total of 34 percent of the shares of Valmet Automotive.

When the car plant in 1969 began production in Uusikaupunki, Saab vehicles was the primary objective to manufacture for the Finnish market. However, the high quality and the flexibility of production also opened the doors to export markets. After the end of production of the Saab 96 was foreseeable, the Talbot Horizon was commissioned in 1979 as a successor in production. The vehicle was developed by Saab - Valmet developed in Finland parts. Result, the vehicle was suitable well for the extreme Finnish conditions. The Saab - Valmet Horizon was sold on the Saab sales in Finland. The success of the Horizon led to a bit of the models Talbot Talbot Solara 1510 and could be produced according to the same specifications later. A total of 31 978 Talbot vehicles were produced from 1979 to 1985.

Developed by Saab - Valmet Saab Finlandia led to even exported Saab 900 CD. Through the acquired experience on the 900 CD, the company received the development and production contract for the Saab 900 convertible. For example, the following models were produced in 1986: Saab 90, Saab 900, Saab 900 CD, Saab 900 and Saab Convertible 9000 In the record year 1992, the production quantity of Saab and Opel Calibra - vehicles totaled 46,688 units.. The Saab production was discontinued in April 2003 with the Saab 9-3 1st generation. Starting in 1997 (September) until 2010, the Porsche Boxster was built in a quantity of 168 495 in Uusikaupunki. From autumn 2005 to spring 2011 also 59 413 Porsche Cayman were mounted. In the fall of 2010, the pre-production of the Fisker Karma has started.

In summer 2012, Valmet announced that in cooperation with Daimler AG 2013-2016 Mercedes- Benz A-Class will be produced in a quantity of 100,000 in Uusikaupunki. Also since 2012 there has been cooperation with the Russian sports car manufacturer Marussia.

Saab 900 Convertible (1993 )

Saab 90 (1985-1986)

Talbot Solara (1984-1985)

Think City (2010)

Fisker Karma (2010)

The cars of Valmet Automotive / Saab - Valmet

  • Saab 95, 1969-1975
  • Saab 96, 1969-1980
  • Saab 99, 1969-1984
  • Saab Finlandia, 1977-1978
  • Saab 900, 1978-1998
  • Saab - Valmet Horizon, 1979-1985
  • Talbot 1510, Talbot Solara, 1979-1985
  • Saab 90, 1984-1987
  • Saab 9000 1986-1990
  • Opel Calibra, 1991-1997
  • Lada Samara Baltic, 1996-1998
  • Porsche Boxster, 1997-2010
  • Saab 9-3, 1999-2003
  • Porsche Cayman, 2005-2011
  • Garia Golf Car, since 2009
  • Think City, 2009-2011
  • Fisker Karma, since 2011

Prototypes and studies

Even at the time of Saab - Valmet, the company has built prototypes, but did not reach the public. This changed after the takeover of Saab shares: Now were these vehicles, mostly for the Geneva Motor Show, publicly displayed. Here the most important:

  • 9000 Saab Convertible ( 1989)
  • Ecobus (1994 )
  • Saab 900 II Coupe
  • Opel Calibra Convertible
  • Isatis on Saab - base ( 1996)
  • Boréal on Opel - based (1997)
  • Honda CR-V open air (1998)
  • Zerone Porsche-based (1999)
  • Hatric on Volvo basis ( 2001)
  • Volvo C70 Coupe Convertible ( 2002)
  • Thunderbird Retractable Glass Roof (2003)
  • Audi A4 Convertible Coupe (2004)
  • Audi A4 Convertible Coupe II ( 2006)
  • Electric concept vehicle " Eva " (2010)

Roof Systems

The end of 2010 the roof segment of the former Karmanngruppe has supplemented the automotive field of Valmet. The locations in Osnabrück were acquired with 350 employees and Zary (Poland ) with 396 employees. Are currently manufactured roof modules for the convertible models from Bentley, BMW / Mini, Mercedes -Benz and Renault. Valmet supplemented with this acquisition, the Convertible expertise and capacity in development and module production significantly.

Current collaborations

At the Geneva Motor Show, the cooperation with the Project Think City has been promoted ( electric car from Norway with Zebra battery technology ).

Types of business entity Osakeyhtiö Fisker Automotive Simca-Talbot Horizon Marussia Motors Convertible#Retractable hardtop roof
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