From USA TODAY:
Saab filed for bankruptcy receivership in Sweden today, giving up on its scramble for a Chinese rescue after General Motors again said it would not sign off on needed technology transfers to new Chinese owners, Saab owner Swedish Automobile said today.
Swedish Automobile (formerly Spyker Cars) has been working on a deal since June for a rescue by Chinese carmaker Youngman Lotus and distributor Pang Da Automotive in exchange for majority control. It has been operating since September under a court-protected attempt to reorganize and was continuing to try to devise a structure for the deal that would meet GM’s objections.
GM sold Saab in 2010, but still holds preferred shares as a result of the deal and owns much of the technology underlying Saab’s current models. It has balked at licensing that technology to owners in China, where GM does substantial business with Chinese partner SAIC, saying it would not be in the interest of GM shareholders (which still include the U.S. Treasury, i.e. taxpayers)…
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I guess GM, which had previously owned Saab and kept some of Saab’s technology licenses, blocked the sale of Saab to Chinese investors because they didn’t want the Chinese to get this technology.
Some are now predicting that due to, replacement parts on the newer model Saabs will be difficult to get. Assuming this is the case, my guess is that someone will begin to supply the parts.