Lars Wilhelm Åberg

Lars Wilhelm Åberg (19 December 1879 – 21 January 1942) was a Finnish engineer and businessman. He was the General Manager of Wärtsilä and co-founder of Suomen Autoteollisuus (SAT).

Early years Lars Wilhelm Åberg was born in Hausjärvi to Senior Master Builder, Depot Manager Lars Erik Åberg and Mathilda Maria née Rosvall. He graduated in 1898 in Swedish speaking Helsingfors reallyceum in Helsinki, after which he studied engineering in Helsinki Polytechnical Institute. He graduated in 1902 after which he studied for one year in Dresden.

Already starting from 13 March Åberg was appointed the board chairman of automobile coach builder Autokoritehdas. Despite its relatively good order book, the company was continuously in lack of cash reserves. The creditors pushed the company to join its operations with its competitor Autoteollisuus-Bilindustri. This took place on 20 March 1931, when Åberg together with Karl Arthur Nordgren and Emil Anton Winckelmann sent to the Ministry of Trade and Industry an application for starting a new company. This was the beginning of lorry and bus producer Suomen Autoteollisuus. Åberg became a minority shareholder in the new company.

Personal life Åberg was married to Sylvi Helena née Antman. The couple remained childless, and when Åberg died in 1942, he bequeathed a large sum of money to Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in Finland. The academy wrote a glowing obituary about him. When Åberg's successor in Wärtsilä, Wilhelm Wahlforss heard about this, he tried to prevent its publishing fiercely, referring to Åberg's neglectful leadership of the company. The obituary was eventually published, but it took place as late as in 1946.