General Motors Co. is pressing ahead with plans to shut down Saab, but will continue to hear bids for the Swedish car brand, according to reports. GM is eliminating Saab along with Pontiac, Hummer, and Saturn as part of a restructuring plan that will leave it with four core brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, and Buick. It will continue to focus on its European Vauxhall and Opel operations.
The Saab motor company was given a late reprieve when General Motors agreed to extend the deadline for a potential suitor to raise the funds needed to buy the loss-making Swedish brand.
GM had originally demanded that Spyker Cars conclude a deal by 12 o’clock 31 December but has now decided that the Dutch sports car company can have another week. The future of the 60-year-old Swedish marque and the 3,400 jobs in that country hang in the balance, though Spyker continues to speak confidently of its ability to reach some kind of deal with GM.
Spyker had originally hoped to receive financial support from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for its attempt to buy Saab which has run up eight straight years of losses for GM.
But the EIB money is apparently not forthcoming, leaving Spyker to try to raise alternative cash in the Netherlands and in Russia. The main investor in the Dutch car maker is the Russian bank, Convers Group, controlled by the Russian entrepreneur, Alexander Antonov. His son Vladimir Antonov, a 34-year-old banker, is chairman of Spyker which produced 43 hand-made luxury cars last year compared with the 93,000 turned out by Saab.
Muller has said that if a deal is achieved, Saab and Spyker Cars would operate as sister companies. The Dutch company could benefit from the Swedish firm’s technical resources and its distribution network, while Spyker would bring entrepreneurial skills to Saab.
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