With new offer, Saab's fate is uncertain

NEW YORK - Dutch company Spyker Cars is giving General Motors Co. more time to consider selling the Saab brand, keeping the fate of the Swedish automaker up in the air.

Spyker had previously given GM until 5 p.m. EST yesterday to consider its latest offer. But Spyker said yesterday it extended the deadline "until further notice."

Spyker submitted its latest offer to buy Saab on Sunday, just days after talks with GM to buy the brand collapsed over unspecified issues. GM responded on Friday, saying it intended to shut down Saab.

The new offer from Spyker sought to address the issues that caused the talks to break down last week.

The Detroit automaker said Sunday it had received inquiries from "several parties" after the Friday announcement. The company said it will evaluate each. A GM spokesman declined to comment further yesterday.

Spyker chief executive officer Victor Muller said the result of the new offer is "difficult to predict."

"There's a dialogue ongoing," Muller said from his car while traveling in the Netherlands. "It's very hard to predict the outcome, particularly since GM in principle has taken a decision to shut Saab down."

Even if his company buys Saab, the automaker would still seek a development loan from the European Investment Bank, Muller said yesterday in a telephone interview. He declined to say whether Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov, the chairman and biggest investor in the Zeewolde, Netherlands-based sports-car maker, still has a role in the new bid.

The Dutch company's initial bid for Saab was in partnership with Antonov's RMC Convers Group.

Saab employs about 3,400 people worldwide, most of whom work at its main plant in Trollhattan, Sweden. The brand also has some 1,100 dealers.

Swedish government officials yesterday were holding emergency meetings with unions and local authorities to prepare for the closure the Trollhattan plant.