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Scania AB, formerly AB Scania-Vabis, is a major Swedish automotive industrymanufacturer of commercial vehicles – specifically heavy trucks and buses. It also manufactures diesel engines for motive power of heavy vehicles, marine, and general industrial applications.
Founded in 1891 in Södertälje as Vabis, and in 1900 as Maskinfabriks-aktiebolaget Scania in Malmö in the Swedish province of Skane, merging in 1911, the company's head office has been in Södertälje, in Stockholm County since 1912. Today, Scania has production facilities in Sweden, France, Netherlands, India, Argentina, Brazil, Poland, and Russia. In addition, there are assembly plants in ten countries in Africa, Asia and Europe. Scania's sales and service organisation and finance companies are worldwide. In 2012, the company employed approximately 42,100 people around the world.Scania was listed on the
NASDAQ OMX Stockholm stock exchange from 1996 to 2014.
Scania's logo shows a Griffin, from the coat of arms of the province of Scania (Swedish: Skåne)
AB Scania-Vabis was established in 1911 as the result of a merger between Södertälje-based Vabis and Malmö-based Maskinfabriks-aktiebolaget Scania. Vabis (Vagnfabriks Aktiebolaget i Södertelge) was established as a railway car manufacturer in 1891, while Maskinfabriks-aktiebolaget Scania was established as a bicycle manufacturer in 1900. Both companies had tried their luck at building automobiles, trucks and engines, but with varied success. In 1910, Maskinfabriks-aktiebolaget Scania had succeeded in constructing reliable vehicles, while Vabis was at the brink of closing down. An offer from Per Alfred Nordeman, managing director of Maskinfabriks-aktiebolaget Scania, to steel manufacturer Surahammars Bruk, owner of Vabis, led to an agreement in November 1910, and in 1911 the merger was a reality.
Development and production of engines and light vehicles were set to Södertälje, while trucks were manufactured in Malmö. The company's logo was redesigned from Maskinfabriks-aktiebolaget Scania's original logo with the head of a griffin, the coat of arms of the Swedish region Scania (locally known as Skåne), centered on a three-spoke bicycle chainset. Initially the headquarters were located in Malmö, but in 1912 they were moved to Södertälje.
Because there were many inexpensive, imported cars in Sweden at the time, Scania-Vabis decided to build high-class, luxury cars, for instance the type III limousine from 1920 that had a top hat holder in the roof. Prince Carl of Sweden owned a 1913 Scania-Vabis 3S, a type which was fitted with in-car buttons so the passenger could communicate with the driver. Scania-Vabis also built two-seat sports cars (or "sportautomobil").
For the next few years the company's profits stagnated, with around a third of their orders coming from abroad.The outbreak of the First World War, however, changed the company, with almost all output being diverted to the Swedish Army. By 1916, Scania-Vabis was making enough profit to invest in redeveloping both of their production facilities.
Following the war, in 1919, Scania decided to focus completely on building trucks, abandoning other outputs including cars and buses. However, they were hurt by the swamping of the market with decommissioned military vehicles from the war, and by 1921 the company was bankrupt.
After some economic difficulties in 1921, new capital came from Stockholms Enskilda Bank owned by the Wallenberg family, and Scania-Vabis became a solid and technically, high standing, company.
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Scania develops, manufactures and sells trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of more than 16 tonnes (Class  , intended for long-distance haulage, regional, and local distribution of goods, as well as construction haulage.
The 1963 forward-control LB76 forged Scania-Vabis's reputation outside Sweden, being one of the first exhaustively crash-tested truck cabs.
Current
All current trucks from Scania are part of the PRT-range, but are marketed as different series based on the general cab height.
- P-series – launched in August 2004, typical applications are regional and local distribution, construction, and various specialised operations associated with locally based transportation and services. P-series trucks have the new P cabs, which are available in several variations: a single-berth sleeper, a spacious day cab, a short cab and a crew cab
- G-series – launched in September 2007, the series offer an enlarged range of options for operators engaged in national long haul and virtually all types of construction applications. All models have a G cab, and each is available as a tractor or rigid. The G-series truck comes with five cab variants: three sleepers, a day cab and a short cab. There are different axle configurations, and in most cases a choice of chassis height and suspension
- R-series – launched in March 2004, and won the prestigious International Truck of the Year award in 2005 and again in 2010.The range offers various trucks optimised for long haulage. All models have a Scania R cab, and each vehicle is available as a tractor or rigid. There are different axle configurations and a choice of chassis height and suspension. The Scania R 730 is the most powerful variant of the R-series. Its 16.4-litre DC16 Turbo Diesel V8 engine produces 730 PS (540 kW; 720 hp) at 1,900 rpm and 3,500 N·m (2,600 lb·ft) of torque at 1,000–1,350 rpm.
- S-series – launched in August 2016. It is the highest cab Scania has ever built. It features a completely flat floor and a low bed that is extendable up to 100 cm (about 3.28 feet).
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Saab-Scania AB (1969–1995)
On 1 September 1969, Scania merged with Saab AB, and formed Saab-Scania ABWhen Saab-Scania was split in 1995, the name of the truck and bus division changed simply to Scania AB. One year later, Scania AB was introduced on the stock exchange, which resulted in a minor change of name to Scania AB (publ).
Aborted Volvo takeover
On 7 August 1999, Volvo announced it had agreed to acquire a majority share in Scania. Volvo was to buy the 49.3% stake in Scania that was owned by Investor AB, Scania's then main shareholder. The acquisition, for $7.5 billion (60.7 billion SEK), would have created the world's second-largest manufacturer of heavy trucks, behind DaimlerChrysler. The cash for the deal was to come from the sale of Volvo's car division to Ford Motor Company in January 1999.
The merger failed, after the European Union disapproved, announcing one company would have almost 100% market share in the Nordic markets.[18][citation needed]
Aborted MAN takeover
In September 2006, the German truckmaker MAN AG launched a €10.3bn hostile offer to acquire Scania AB. Scania's CEO Leif Östling was forced to apologise for comparing the bid of MAN to a "Blitzkrieg". MAN AG later dropped its hostile offer, but in January 2008, MAN increased their voting rights in Scania up to 17%.
Scania ownership today
The two major stockholders of Scania AB (publ) are:
- The German automotive company Volkswagen AG is Scania's biggest shareholder, with a 70.94% voting stake (equity) in Scania. It gained this by first buying Volvo's stake in 2000, after the latter's aborted takeover attempt, increasing it to 36.4% in the first quarter 2007, and then buying the remainder from Investor AB in March 2008. The deal was approved by regulatory bodies in July 2008. Scania then became the ninth marque in the Volkswagen Group.
- The German truck manufacturer MAN SE holds a 17.37% voting stake in Scania.Notably, Volkswagen AG also owns 75.03% of MAN.
In December 2015, VW took 9.6 billion Swedish kronor ($1.1B, €1.0B) out of Scania. Media speculated that the move was caused by the losses in the Volkswagen emissions scandal.
- Current shareholders
Scania AB (publ) has a total issue of 400 million 'A shares' and 400 million 'B shares', with a total capitalised value of SEK 72,880 million. In terms of voting rights, one 'A share' is eligible for one vote, whereas 10 'B shares' are required for one vote.
As of 29 January 2010, these shares, as published by Swedish Central Securities Depository and Clearing Organisation ("Euroclear"), are allocated to 119,973 owners, and the table below details the top ten shareholders.
Scania AB (publ) principal shareholders
| Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft * |
306,232,239 |
59,037,822 |
45.66 |
70.94 |
| MAN SE |
73,047,179 |
33,718,857 |
13.35 |
17.37 |
| Clearstream Banking |
1,170,514 |
32,973,450 |
4.27 |
1.02 |
| JP Morgan Chase Bank |
461,584 |
36,220,219 |
4.59 |
0.93 |
| Swedbank Robur Fonder |
0 |
29,043,665 |
3.63 |
0.66 |
| Skandia Liv |
974,374 |
9,646,318 |
1.33 |
0.44 |
| Alecta Pensionsförsäkring |
0 |
19,085,000 |
2.39 |
0.33 |
| AMF Försäkring och fonder |
650,000 |
9,678,411 |
1.23 |
0.36 |
| Handelsbanken fonder |
0 |
7,202,362 |
0.90 |
0.16 |
| The Government Pension Fund of Norway |
0 |
6,937,665 |
0.87 |
0.16 |
| largest 10 owners |
382,535,890 |
243,021,708 |
78.19 |
92.46 |
| Others |
17,464,110 |
156,978,292 |
21.81 |
7.54 |
| total ownership |
400,000,000 |
400,000,000 |
100.00 |
100.00 |
* Further to the shares listed above, Volkswagen AG also holds shares in trust by a credit institution of Scania, which gives additional voting rights amounting to 0.87 percent and an equity interest of 3.63 percent attributable to Volkswagen AG, as disclosed in January 2009.
, intended for long-distance haulage, regional, and local distribution of goods, as well as construction haulage.
