Saab's Hope Coming from China

General Motors announced last week that it wants to discontinue Saab and, along with it, shut down 218 US dealer franchises and eliminate 3,400 jobs. However, rumors are claiming that Saab might still live on and one possible hope comes straight from China, the home land of several companies looking to bid for the Swedish unit.

BAIC has already purchased several assets, with Geely, the Chinese company currently involved in Volvo's sale also pondering a bid.

"I have a suspicion that Saab will be reincarnated in China," said George Magliano, an auto analyst at IHS Global Insight, according to a report by Reuters.

At this time, there are no available details but Spyker has already confirmed that it submitted a new bid on Sunday that will be valid until 5pm (Eastern Standard Time) on Monday, December 21, 2009.

"We have made every effort to resolve the issues that were preventing the conclusion of this matter and we have asked GM and all other involved parties to seriously consider this offer," said Spyker CEO Victor R. Muller. "We are very confident that our renewed offer will remove the impasse that was standing in the way of an agreement on Friday, and this would still allow us to conclude the deal prior to the expiry of the deadline originally set by GM of December 31st," said Muller.

GM announced on Friday that it has failed to reach an agreement with involved bidders and that Saab will be entirely closed. Still, the company has a December 31 deadline to find an interested suitor for the Swedish unit.