Saab sobs

Swedish car-maker Saab has become the latest casualty of the struggles of General Motors. The American company announced it had decided to close its subsidiary Saab after failing to find a buyer.

Potential deals with Swedish sports car maker Koenigsegg and Dutch car manufacturer Spyker collapsed, which contributed to GM's decision to close the money-losing Swedish branch.

Swedish government officials and Saab representatives expressed their disappointment on Friday.

"It is very dismal, very sad news for all of the employees and it comes at the worst possible time," said Sweden's Enterprise Minister Maud Olofsson. He also criticized GM for not doing enough to save Saab.

"GM owns Saab and GM could have done much more for Saab over the years."

Saab chief executive Jan Ake Jonsson added that negotiations with potential buyers had been close to succeeding.

"Many of us have worked hard the past 15, 18 months," he said. "We were on the move, talks with Koenigsegg and new parties were intense,"

Saab employs around 3,400 workers, who now face the possibility of lay-offs. GM said is was still open to a potential buyer, but Enterprise Minister Olofsson was not holding out that a deal would be made.

"We have to shift focus and see how we can help employees and the local municipality to look ahead," Olofsson said.

Nick Reilly, head of GM's European branch, said he regretted that a deal with Spyker could not be reached. He added that the closure was not a bankruptcy or a forced liquidation process, and that GM expected Saab to satisfy debts and to wind down production in an orderly manner.

mz/AFP/DPA

Editor: Kyle James