*Dehyphenated
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In Amsterdam last week Scania-Vabis announced their decision to drop the Vabis from the make name of their products (but not from their company title); they had been having some differences of opinion with Daimler-Benz about the possibilities of confusion between such hyphenated make-names as Scania-Vabis and Mercedes-Benz (though personally I can't see the slightest cause for confusion) and so they did a little market research. This told them that most people called the trucks "Scanias" anyway, and that few people were really familiar with their trade mark badge—which originated as a stylized version of the pedals and crank of the bicycles that Scania originally made.
Being full to the ears with Scandinavian folklore, I can tell you how it all started. In 1896 in MaImO, southern Sweden, a company was founded to build bikes and wagons, and took for its title a Latinized version (Scania) of the name of Sweden's most southerly province, Skhne. Three years later a wagonbuilder started in Sodertalje--home of the present main factory—and called itself Yagnsfabriks Aktiebolaget i 5odertalje, the letters underlined making the Vabis by which it was known. The meaning of the title is "wagon-making company at Sodertalje."
In 1911 the two companies amalgamated. Hence Scania-Vabis. Amusingly, although Scania is now chosen as the trade name, the long-serving locals at Sodertalje still speak of the trucks as Vabis.