A lot can happen in 100 years. Two Swedish companies - Scania, established in Malmö in 1901, and Vabis, founded in Södertälje in 1891 – each produced their first truck in 1902. At the time, Sweden had about 50 motor vehicles. Since then we have built and delivered more than 1,200,000 trucks and buses for heavy transport work.In 1911, Scania and Vabis merged, enabling them to combine each company’s best technical solutions. Eight years later, Scania-Vabis decided to focus on trucks. Unlike our competitors, we have concentrated our resources in the heavy transport segment. Always dedicated to supply vehicles that deliver superior operating economy and uptime for our customers’ businesses.
The first in-house diesel engine was introduced already in 1936. Three years later, Scania-Vabis launched a new modular engine family in 4-, 6- and 8-cylinder models. This engine range was based on a modular concept and a high degree of component standardisation. This was the beginning of the Scania modular system. Engine overhauls were still part of the routine - until Scania-Vabis launched its ”400,000 kilometre engine” in 1954. As early as 1958, Scania-Vabis introduced a turbocharged diesel engine. Turbocharging as such was not new, but this level of strength and reliability was. When initial customer resistance faded, the Swedish truckmaker gained advantage over the European competitors.As early as the 1950s Scania-Vabis built up systematised knowledge of the stresses affecting various vehicle components. Such knowledge was invaluable when developing new components for various market needs. Scania was able to introduce larger vehicles with higher payload capacities and higher axle weights without encountering problems in load-bearing components - i.e. frames and axles. In 1961, Sweden introduced strength requirements for truck cabs. The purpose was to improve driver safety in case of accidents. To meet these standards, cabs had to be impact-tested: A 1-tonne weight was suspended from the laboratory ceiling and swung in a 3-metre arc against the A-pillar of the cab.
During the 1960s, Scania-Vabis decided to manufacture all vital, strategic components under its own auspices. This led to both forward and backward integration, also adding new sites to the company's production system.The new Scania range introduced in 1981 marked another step of efficient modular thinking as one of the cornerstones of Scania's corporate philosophy. It was based on far-reaching modularisation not only of powertrains, but also chassis components and cabs. In principle, three different cab families were replaced by a single modular family. As a result, customers were offered greater variety while the number of items in the full cab range shrank by 70 percent. This paved the way for comparatively high margins and the best profitability in the industry. For more than seven decades, Scania has reported a profit every year.
Scania's Streamline cabs, introduced in 1991, lowered the truck's aerodynamic coefficient of drag towards 0.5. Lower air resistance, achieved through new styling and refined by lengthy wind tunnel testing, improved fuel consumption by 4-5 percent.
In the 1990s higher sales volume yielded benefits, which Scania added to by developing a global product system with standardised, interchangeable components. Nowadays, items and components move between continents to overcome peak workloads.
In 1998 the change over to the new truck and bus generation, the 4-series, was completed. The wedge-shaped, rounded 4-series set new standards for aerodynamics and driver environment. In 1999 Scania launched a complete range of Euro 3 low-emission engines. Using EGR technology Scania's engines can fulfil Euro 4 without fuel additives.
Today Scania is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications, and of industrial and marine engines. Employing 30,000 people, Scania operates in about 100 countries.
The annual production level is more than 62,000 vehicles per year, using the same product platform and the same quality standards worldwide.
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