entire vehicle by almost 50%.

Almost 50% of the project SÅNÄTT (€3.56 million of a total of €7.23) was financed (public grant partial funding for R&D) by the Swedish innovation agency Vinnova through the Strategic Vehicle Research and Innovation (FFI) program, which is a partnership between the government and automotive industry in Sweden

Why did it work?

SÅNÄTT was first initiated by SAAB Automobile AB in 2010 in order to achieve a new method for product development that could fulfil the need of more collaboration with other actors in the automotive industry. When the company went bankrupt in 2011 the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) role for SÅNÄTT was replaced by Volvo Cars, reinforcing the project. The project had in its initial state been recognized as a way to improve the climateof and cooperation within the Swedish automotive industry, especially by the Scandinavian Automotive Supplier Association (FKG) and Innovatum, an organization sponsored by the Swedish government intended to connect industries and academia, which supported the project.

The strong cooperation between suppliers, manufacturers and academia was the key factor that drove the project to success. Through the novel approach a creative project environment was developed, making use of each partner’s skills and experience. The innovative context of the cooperation stimulated networking and new partnerships between the various experts, thereby enhancing the cooperation in the automotive sector.

Further deployment

The project SÅNÄTT resulted in a new approach for collaboration within the automotive industry and a virtual visualisation of a prototype with strongly reduced vehicle weight, thus contributing to lowering emissions and achieving energy and