DETROIT — General Motors is allowing more time to find a buyer for Saab but proceeding with plans to start shutting down the 62-year-old Swedish carmaker if it cannot reach a deal.þþG.M. has set a Jan. 7 deadline for bidders, including Spyker Cars, which has been in talks to buy Saab for the last month, a person with direct knowledge of the process said Wednesday. This person spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.þþThe deadline is a week later than the company’s previously announced date of Thursday. G.M. had set the Thursday deadline when it announced Dec. 18 that it was unable to reach an agreement with Spyker and would close Saab.þþBut Spyker, a small Dutch company that built 43 luxury sports cars last year and is backed by Russian and Arabic investors, has continued to press G.M. for a deal.þþA Saab spokesman, Eric Geers, said that G.M. was still preparing to wind down Saab’s operations in Trollhättan, Sweden, but that it was also continuing to evaluate potential bids.þþMeanwhile, Saab will soon restart some production lines that are currently on a temporary shutdown, raising the hopes of enthusiasts who want the storied brand to survive. Saab will begin building its new 9-5 and Cabrio models, along with the 9-3 sedan and other cars.þþ“Starting the 11th of January we will continue building cars in Trollhättan that customers have ordered,” Mr. Geers said.þþG.M. had a deal earlier this year to sell Saab to the Koenigsegg Group in Sweden, but it fell apart in November over issues that both sides said could not be resolved.þþThe Swedish government, which has said it would not be an investor in Saab but was to help with financing the sale to Koenigsegg, recently said it would commit 542 million Swedish kronor ($75 million) to help absorb Saab’s closing. The money would mostly go toward education and job training.þþSaab, which sold 93,295 vehicles last year, has about 3,400 employees in Sweden and 1,100 dealers worldwide, including about 200 in the United States.þþG.M. this month sold some Saab technology and older car designs to a Chinese company, the Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corporation.þþSaab is one of four brands that G.M. is eliminating as part of its restructuring. It has stopped making vehicles for Saturn and Pontiac and has a pending deal to sell its Hummer truck brand to a Chinese industrial equipment manufacturer.þþIn November, G.M. canceled plans to sell two European brands, Opel and Vauxhall, to a parts supplier and a Russian bank.þ
Source: NY Times
