General Motors will need to decide this week whether to sell its loss-making Swedish car unit Saab, Swedish daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet quoted the government’s ‘car czar’ as saying on Thursday.
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GM said at the beginning of December it would consider Saab offers until the end of the year and move towards closure if it appears it cannot be sold, Reuters noted.
“They must at least have chosen one of the interested parties this week, otherwise it will be tough to complete a deal,” the paper quoted Joran Hagglund, state secretary at Sweden’s enterprise ministry, as saying.
“Partly, GM has a lot of contracts to negotiate (with a possible buyer) and partly the European Investment Bank and the (Swedish) debt office need to undertake a detailed economic analysis of a buyer’s financial strength.”
Among others, GM is talking to BAIC, China’s fifth-largest car maker, about a partial sale of Saab-related assets including vehicle tooling and technology, two sources with direct knowledge of the discussions told Reuters earlier this week.
While the timetable is tight, GM has said it could continue to finance Saab after its self-imposed deadline of the end of this year, if a buyer has been identified by then.
Spokesman Chris Preuss told the paper negotiations could continue with a buyer next year. Asked if GM would continue to support Saab financially, he said: “Yes, we will continue to run Saab during that period.
“But I think that … a decision about Saab is going to come very soon,” the paper quoted Preuss as saying.
