Scania AB is a major Swedish manufacturer headquartered in Södertälje, focusing on commercial vehicles—specifically heavy lorries, trucks and buses. It also manufactures diesel engines for heavy vehicles as well as marine and general industrial applications.
Scania was formed in 1911 through the merger of Södertälje-based Vabis and Malmö-based Maskinfabriks-aktiebolaget Scania. Since 1912, the company has been re-located again to Södertälje after the merger. Today, Scania has production facilities in Sweden, France, the Netherlands, Thailand, China, India, Argentina, Brazil, Poland, Russia and Finland.[3] 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. The company is a subsidiary of Traton, part of the Volkswagen Group.
Scania's logo shows a griffin, from the coat of arms of the province of Scania (Swedish: Skåne)
History
AB Scania-Vabis was established in 1911 as the result of a merger between Södertälje-based Vabis and Malmö-based Maskinfabriks-aktiebolaget Scania. Vagnfabriks Aktiebolaget i Södertelge (Vabis) 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 (Skåne), centered on a three-spoke bicycle chainset. Initially the headquarters were located in Malmö, but in 1912 they were moved to Södertälje.
