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Back to Motoring news

Motoring news

GM extends Saab deadline

31/12/2009

Swedish car maker Saab has been given a last-minute reprieve by owner General Motors (GM), as a Dutch sports car manufacturer continues its efforts to buy the brand.

GM had previously set a deadline of midday on 30 December for Spyker Cars - one-time makers of fighter aircraft - to raise the necessary funds to buy Saab. However, this deadline is now reported to have been extended to 7 January 2010, as Spyker seeks funding within the Netherlands and Russia.

Meanwhile, GM has announced that it is resuming limited production at Saab to fulfil orders for the new 9-5 and convertible 9-3 models.

Quoted in Autocar, a Saab spokesperson said "We are preparing a wind-down process. At the same time we are open to options to bids that come in."

After GM announced on 18 December its intention to wind up Saab, the company confirmed that it had received "several" enquiries about the marque. Potential buyers are thought to include Merbanco, a Wyoming-based group of private investors first linked with the brand earlier in 2009.

Spyker's CEO, Victor R. Muller, said before Christmas that the company's bid was motivated by "our passion for saving an iconic brand that we would be honoured to shepherd".

Spyker explained that it hoped to benefit from Saab's engineering, research and distribution facilities, in return for providing entrepreneurial leadership "sensitive to the uniqueness, heritage and individuality of the Saab brand".

Saab Automobile was formed as the offshoot of an aeroplane manufacturer, produced its first passenger car in 1947, and is credited with several technological innovations - notably in relation to turbocharging. It remains separate from the modern-day Saab aerospace company.