“A first bid has been submitted for carmaker Saab,” SR said, adding that several unidentified sources had named the bidder as Youngman.

It provided no other details, saying only that it was a multi-billion-kronor (one billion kronor = $148 million) bid.

Saab’s liquidators were not immediately available for comment.

Youngman showed keen interest in snapping up Saab before it declared bankruptcy, but its efforts were thwarted by the Swedish brand’s former owner GM, which balked at transferring the necessary technology licences.

A delegation from the Chinese company was reportedly in Sweden this week to

try to hammer out a deal.

Saab filed for bankruptcy on December 19. It was already on the brink of bankruptcy when GM sold it in early 2010 to Dutch company Swedish Automobile (SWAN) — at the time called Spyker — for $400 million.

The past two years have been lined with desperate efforts and numerous failed deals to keep it afloat.

One of Saab’s three liquidators, Hans Bergqvist, told Swedish news agency TT on Sunday that up to five companies were interested in buying Saab but would not disclose any names.

In addition to Youngman, Indian commercial utility vehicles manufacturer Mahindra and Mahindra has reportedly expressed an interest, while Turkish private equity firm Brightwell Holdings said recently it would place a bid “as soon as they (the administrators) are ready to accept bids.”