With the slow demise of Swedish manufacturer Saab culminating in its bankruptcy declaration in 2011, previous buyers of the marque have been found to have defected to vehicles from the likes of Honda, Volkswagen, Audi and Toyota.

According to figures from US automotive data specialist Polk gathered between 2010-2011 revealing the top 15 brands buyers switched to after disposing of their Saab vehicles, cars with Honda badges claimed 7.2 per cent of former Saab buyers, while Volkswagen has won over 7.0 per cent.

Audi and Toyota took an equal share with 6.3 per cent each, finishing ahead of the first General Motors’ brand Chevrolet at 6.2 per cent, and Ford and BMW, both with 6.1 per cent.

Polk says the figures were the result of measuring actual vehicle replacements within household garages based on the premise that every time a new vehicle is added to a household garage, Polk looked for the disposal of an existing vehicle from the garage occurring within six months of the new vehicle being acquired.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that while the new owner of Saab, National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), has completed its acquisition deal of the car maker’s assets and can use the Saab name once again, it would not be able to use the brand’s distinctive griffin head badge as truck maker Scania and defence and aerospace group Saab continue to use the logo.