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Spyker and GM in last ditch Saab talks

The head of Dutch sports car maker Spyker met with General Motors on Monday afternoon in a final attempt to convince the US auto company to sell Saab Automobile, the iconic Swedish brand facing an imminent wind-down.

Published: 21 December 2009 17:52 CET

“GM is holding new meetings with representatives for Dutch sportscar maker Spyker in Stockholm today,” Swedish public radio reported on its website.

Spyker announced its renewed bid on Sunday, two days after GM broke off talks with the Dutch group and said it would begin winding down the iconic loss-making brand.

Spyker’s new bid was to expire at 11pm CET on Monday.

“An announcement about the negotiations could be made during the day,” Swedish radio said.

It said one of the main reasons GM had resumed talks with Spyker was that the Dutch group had addressed GM’s hesitations over Spyker’s Russian investors.

Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet reported earlier on Monday that Spyker’s main investors, Vladimir and Alexander Antonov, were no longer behind the Dutch group’s bid for Saab.

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Former Swedish Saab bosses appear in court

Saab's former CEO Jan Åke Jonsson. Photo: Karin Olander/TT

The pair are accused of falsifying the paperwork at the height of the Swedish company's financial difficulties at the start of the decade.

A third person – who has not been named in the Swedish media – is accused of assisting them by issuing false invoices adding up to a total of 30 million kronor ($3.55m).

According to court documents, the charges relate to the firm's business in Ukraine and the paperwork in question was signed just before former CEO Jan Åke Jonsson resigned.

Both Jonsson and Saab's former head lawyer Kristina Geers have admitted signing the papers but denied knowledge of the Ukranian firm implicated in the case.

All three suspects deny all the charges against them.

Saab's former head lawyer Kristina Geers. Photo: Björn Larsson Rosvall/TT

Saab filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2011, after teetering on the edge of collapse for nearly two years.

Chief prosecutor Olof Sahlgren told the court in Vänersborg on Wednesday that the alleged crimes took place in March 2011, when Saab was briefly owned by the Dutch company Spyker Cars.

It was eventually bought by National Electric Vehicle Sweden (Nevs), a Chinese-owned company after hundreds of staff lost their jobs.

The car maker, which is based in west Sweden, has struggled to resolve serious financial difficulties by attracting new investors since the takeover.

In October 2014 it announced it had axed 155 workers, close to a third of its workforce.

Since 2000, Saab automobile has had no connection with the defence and aeronautics firm with the same name. It only produces one model today, the electric 9-3 Aero Sedan, mainly targeting the Chinese market.

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