This reflected the impact of Saab’s previous owner, General Motors (GM), imposing a production shutdown in the first part of 2010 that was “not fully recoverable,” the company said in a statement.

Spyker has never made a profit since it was created in 2000. It reported a €39.6 million (371.2 million kronor) net loss in the third quarter, nearly 10 times larger than its loss in the same period last year.

Based in Zeewolde in the central Netherlands and listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange, Spyker bought Saab in January from GM, which was in severe trouble during the financial crisis, with the aim of relaunching the Swedish car brand.

“Saab has made significant progress since we acquired the business. We have forged important strategic relationships with BMW and American Axle & Manufacturing and re-established our global sales organisation, laying the foundation for an independent and profitable global premium auto brand,” Spyker CEO Victor R. Muller said in a statement.

Spyker said it sold 8,540 Saab vehicles in the third quarter, seven percent more than the previous quarter and 59 percent more than the 5,371 in the same period last year.

“Saab continues to see growing sales momentum, especially in our key markets, and the interest in our brand is growing steadily,” said Saab Automobile President and CEO Jan Åke Jonsson.

“The all new 9-5 has been particularly well received in markets around the world and we have now a full engine range available, while we introduced new diesel engines for the 9-3 range, delivering class-leading low-CO2 levels for model year 2011,” he added.

Spyker said it expected to continue to post losses for 2010 and 2011, but hoped to bounce back and be in the black in 2012, when it expects to sell 120,000 cars.

Jonsson said Saab will focus on much shorter product life cycles. In the next year, it will focus on two new market products: the 9-4X, which is expected to give Saab access to the growing cross-over segment, and the 9-5 SportCombi.

In addition, the company will launch the successor to the current 9-3 in 2012 so that two years from now, the new 9-5 will be the oldest model in what will then be the newest and widest ever product range in Saab’s history, Jonsson said.

The company’s priority for the fourth quarter and first quarter next month was “market expansion,” the company said in a statement.

“The target is to have agreements in place for China and Russia by the end of the year,” the company said.

GM owned Saab for 20 years, but the Swedish brand was never profitable during this period. In 2009, output plunged to 38,756 vehicles from 93,000 in 2008. Spyker bought Saab for $400 million (2.71 billion kronor).

Last month, Spyker signed a deal with German car maker BMW for the supply of 4-cylinder 1.6-litre turbocharged gasoline engines for Saab cars starting in 2012.

Spyker shares fell 24 percent to €3 in early Amsterdam trading.