Saab Automobile A.B., By Appointment to His Majesty the King of Sweden
Something that I wasn’t aware of until recently is that Saab Automobile, A.B. is the official Purveyor of automobiles to the Court of Sweden.
What does this mean? In some monarchies (such as in Sweden’s) the Royal Family may designate a purveyor of goods or services as official to the Court.
As such an appointee Saab is allowed to include the phrase, “By Appointment to His Majesty the King of Sweden” in their print materials.
Saab is a Royal Warrant holder whereas Volvo is not. For a list of Royal Court of Sweden Royal Warrant holders see this page.
For more information on Swedish Royal Warrant holders, see the official website here.
I wonder if Saab could benefit from this honor to market their cars exclusively to the Swedish government for their official duties use fleet?
Note the griffins on the coat-of-arms above.
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“I wonder if Saab could benefit from this honor to market their cars exclusively to the Swedish government for their official duties use fleet?”
…I thought that’s what “official purveyor” meant? Guess not.
It is not griffins on the coat-of-arms, it is just some strange lions.
Ha ! Take that, Ovlov !!!
Sorry if I taint the romantic glow of this…
The “Kunglig hovleverantör” diploma is something anyone can apply for, as soon as the court buys something from you.
And, mind you, the Swedish government is not the same as the Swedish court. The court is just a “living trademark”. A symbol. If they have anything to say about anything, it’s because the government gracefully lets them, not the other way around.
The king uses an S80 daily, and the royal family has at least 4 Volvos (only one Saab), so if Volvo wants to be called hovleverantör, they are.
…and the royal kids seem to prefer Lexus RX SUV:s. Tasteful.
It was such a nice romantic glow, too.
Boooooo.
I have this old Swedish language course for the computer, and in the part where it talks about the King it shows him driving a black 9000.
Prince Carl Philip races Porsches
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article1769363.ab
(Yes, the article is written entirely in Borkish)
Martin –> The king uses an Volvo C30 1.8F as his daily driver.
http://www.aftonbladet.se/bil/article1396488.ab
The Swedish Royal family have driven/owned Saabs since the very early 1950s - as detailed in my Saab book. This includes the long wheelbase 99 limo for a 1970s Royal tour and started with a 93.
They had 99 EMS too. And 900 Classics.
Yes they have a few Volvos now- but they drove Saabs from the word go.
So Swade, the glow can continue.
But the ‘kids’ in most European Kingdoms drive porsches. In Belgium Prince Laurent is vey well known for his gasoline floating through his veins, quite in contradiction with his personal green image. In the recent trial, considering misuse of official money for the Belgian Marine, he appeared in cort as a witness. His appearance was with a smart fortwo, i guess just to charm the public opinion.
When i see the King of Sweden in a ovlov or a saab (at least the C30 is ethanol driven), i guess it is his personal PR-way of showing the public his moral high standards and that it is necessary to stimulate the traditional values and to support the local industry (even if those are part of global groups like GM or Ford).
Unofficially they all prefer their porsches and ferraris, but the Kings can’t show that openly themselves.
And if Daddy drives the ethanol tin-top, the harm the ‘kids’ are doing towards the environment with their supercars is a bit compensated …
http://www.solidaire.org/scripts/article.phtml?section=A2AAAABK&obid=33471
I took a look at recent LIST OF HOLDERS OF ROYAL WARRANTS for the Belgian Monarchy at
http://www.monarchie.be/en/monarchy/population/supplier2.html
and guess who is delivering:
-BMW Belgium Luxembourg s.a. / n.v
-D’IETEREN s.a. (official import for VW, Audi and Porsche and all other VAG-products - i guess no one of the monarchy is driving a Seat ibiza Ecomotive …)
and
-TOYOTA BELGIUM s.a.
(MODERN CAR s.p.r.l. seems to be a chauffeur service).
Well, as the motor industry isn’t that active in our country, at least not with a ‘national’ brand, the choice for the King and his family is a bit more free than in Sweden i guess.
I believe we have 4 automotive plants in Belgium: Opel in Antwerp, i believe producing Astra’s - Ford in Genk producing Mondeo’s, Galaxy’s and S-Max - ovlov in Gent producing C30, S40 and V50 (?) - and VW in Brussels with till now Golfs, but in future AUDI A1’s.
Some local politicians tend to support the local brands & plants. I.e. the governor of Limburg, altough well known for his environmental friendly image and daily use of his bike, declared when the S-Max was announced by Ford and just two concept sketches were public at the moment, that he had ordered one.