Why Saab killed its griffin logo
A trade fair employee polishes the logo of a Saab car during the 63rd International Motor Show (IAA) in the central German city of Frankfurt on Sept. 16, 2009.
Saab is losing a key feature of its classic logo: The griffin is out of here.
The Saab was introduced with its iconic griffin in 1949.
Then the car was switched from parent company to parent company like it was in a game of hot potato.
It went from Saab AB to Scania to GM to Spyker Cars, a Dutch manufacturer. Shortly after the 2010 buy, however, Saab went bankrupt.
Enter Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) — a partnership between China's National Modern Energy Holdings and Japan's Sun Investment — which bought Saab Automobile, Powertrain and Tools. The thing it didn't buy: The rights to Saab's griffin logo.
According to Brand New, the transition won't be too tough since Saab has been leaving the griffin out for a while.
But the griffin isn't completely extinct. Saab planes and trucks, which aren't owned by NEVS, will still get to use the mythical beast.
More from our partners at Business Insider:
- Mercenary hackers appear to be behind an insane global espionage campaign
- Marissa Mayer is plotting a major purge of executives at Yahoo
- Sources: Facebook is working on a huge new mobile ad product
- Secretive startup Palantir is now worth ~ $8 billion, according to cofounder
- Man goes on 60-day juice fast to save his life
The story you just read is accessible and free to all because thousands of listeners and readers contribute to our nonprofit newsroom. We go deep to bring you the human-centered international reporting that you know you can trust. To do this work and to do it well, we rely on the support of our listeners. If you appreciated our coverage this year, if there was a story that made you pause or a song that moved you, would you consider making a gift to sustain our work through 2024 and beyond?