In 1987, the final stages of the work on filling in the dock in Västra Hamnen were completed.
The huge dock was filled in with sand from Køgebukten and was part of the SAAB establishment in Västra Hamnen. Scaniaparken was also developed at this time.
At the same time as the Swedish government was making preparations for the closure of the Kockums shipyard, the news was released that Saab-Scania had plans for establishing a plant in the Kockums shipyard area. To be more precise, this was to be the new production plant in Hall 7. The hall is 40 metres high and covers an area of some 100,000 square metres.
After three years of planning and conversion work, one of Europe's most modern automobile assembly plants was ready for use. Declining profitability within Saab-Scania AB resulted in a merger with General Motors in 1989, and the formation of Saab Automobile AB in 1990. The merger brought with it a reorganisation of the company with a reduction in the number of employees, but also its closure as a consequence.
A few years after its closure, the Saab factory became the centre of Malmö's new trade fair area, which moved from the Stadion area to Västra Hamnen. The 'new age' lasted seven years and in February 1986, the decision was reached to close Kockums' plant for the production of civilian vessels. After that, production concentrated on military vessels -mainly submarines- and won some major export orders in the 1990s from Australia and other countries.
Kockums also invested in new technology for underwater work and civilian production projects such as wind power stations, bogies, etc. Following the merger of Kockums Malmö and Kockums Karlskrona at the end of the 1990s, the production of military vessels was transferred to Karlskrona.
Malmö continued to be the main centre for Kockums with a focus on design, planning and development.
In 1999/2000, Kockums became part of the German HDW Group. Legally and financially, however, Kockums remains a Swedish company.
