GM and Koenigsegg have announced that a deal has been finalized between the two over the sale of Saab. The deal involves a 100 percent sale of Saab to Koenigsegg by the end of the year. The final piece of the deal involves funding from the European Investment Bank in the amount of 4.3 billion kronor, which is dependent on the Swedish government. The exact price that Koenigsegg is paying for Saab has not been disclosed, but according to sources it is very low.

GM has officially announced the death of the Saab brand. In what is going to be a sad day for all the Saab lovers out there, GM has announced that the talks with Spyker to acquire the brand have ended, leaving no other suitors. Last month Koenigsegg unexpectedly withdrew its bid for the brand.

“Despite the best efforts of all involved, it has become very clear that the due diligence required to complete this complex transaction could not be executed in a reasonable time. In order to maintain operations, Saab needed a quick resolution,” said GM Europe President Nick Reilly. “We regret that we were not able to complete this transaction with Spyker Cars. We will work closely with the Saab organization to wind down the business in an orderly and responsible manner. This is not a bankruptcy or forced liquidation process. Consequently, we expect Saab to satisfy debts including supplier payments, and to wind down production and the distribution channel in an orderly manner while looking after our customers.”

As we all wait for GM to finally decide if there is going to be a deal with Spyker concerning the fate of Saab, Spyker has revealed some of its plans for the brand if it does indeed acquire it.

Spyker’s boss, Victor Muller recently revealed to AOL that if Spyker does acquire Saab it plans to rebuild the brand around the new 9-5, the 9-4X crossover and the 9-3. The new 9-5 would be released first, in the next few months followed by the introduction of the 9-4X crossover later this year or in 2011.

Regarding the Aero X concept car, Muller stated, “I love that car, and it deserves to be built. It’s got true ‘Saabishness’ in it. It’s one of the best designs of the past five years.”

We’ll have to wait and see what happens. GM has officially extended the deadline for a deal for Saab to January 7th.

Over the weekend Spyker submitted a new proposal that addressed 11 of the issues that made the earlier discussions fail, ultimately leading to GM’s announcement to kill Saab. It’s new proposal had an expiration date of today at 5 pm ET, but Spyker has released a short press release stating that the offer has been extended until further notice.

GM has been in discussions with Spyker, but no details have been released.

GM originally had a deadline of December 31st to find a buyer for Saab, but on December 18th GM announced that talks with Dutch luxury carmaker Spyker Cars had failed and the brand would be killed. Two days later Spyker submitted a new offer to buy Saab, which has yet to be decided upon. Spyker Cars Chief Executive Victor Muller has now stated that GM has extended the deadline until January 7th.

Saab spokesman Eric Geers said “We have the orders and we have to deliver them as usual. We also have the orders for the 9-3 and others. The factory has to continue again.” He also stated “We are preparing the wind-down process. At the same time we are open to options, to bids that come in. Therefore the deadline has also been dropped.”

If Saab does eventually die 3,400 workers in Sweden will lose their jobs.

Saab has released more photos of the 9-5 SportCombi ahead of its debut in Geneva next week.

The 9-5 SportCombi is pretty much the same as the 9-5 sedan with a more versatile rear. This means it will likely have the same four and six-cylinder turbo engines. Saab’s XWD all-wheel-drive system will also be available. Sales are expected to kick off later this year.

Saab is celebrating its first year since its departure from under the umbrella of GM. It even released the special edition Independence Edition 9-3 Convertible to celebrate the past year. Saab has also just unveiled the new PhoeniX concept in Geneva, which is supposed to preview of what we can expect from future Saab models.

The PhoeniX concept is based on the next-generation 9-3 and introduces a new “aeromotional design” theme, which Saab describes as a visual evocation of the aerodynamic design principles and passion for innovation that inspired the creators of Saab’s first car, the iconic Ursaab. The sleek exterior has a low drag co-efficient of 0.25.

Butterfly doors provide access to a 2+2 seating arrangement. Under the hood the PhoeniX concept is powered by a 1.6L turbocharged engine mated to an electric motor. The 1.6L puts out 200 horsepower and features start/stop technology, while the electric motor puts out an additional 34 horsepower. The hybrid system is mated to Saab’s all-wheel-drive system and a six-speed manual transmission.

According to sources Saab is currently trying to bid to buy the rights to the outgoing Mini platform. Saab is trying to secure the rights to a small car platform that it can use to compete in the premium compact segment.

Saab has already secured a deal to buy Mini’s 1.6L turbocharged engine, but now Saab bosses want the old Mini platform. BMW is set to begin phasing out the current Mini platform at the end of 2012 when an all-new Mini, codenamed F56, launches. The next Mini is said to use a new front-wheel-drive platform that is being developed by BMW. The new platform will be the basis for the next Mini and a new small BMW that will go head to head with the Audi A1 .

It looks like Saab has been saved yet again. Saab has sold up to a maximum of a 29.9 percent equity stake to Chinese automaker Hawtai Motor Group Company Limited. The deal includes a €120 million subscription deal for 24.6 million shares of Saab, as well as a €30 million convertible loan. Of course the deal needs the final approval from the Chinese governmental agencies, the European Investment Bank and the Swedish National Debt Office.

Victor Muller, CEO of Spyker and Chairman of Saab Automobile, said: “The partnership with Hawtai allows Saab Automobile on the one hand to continue executing its business plan since we secured the required mid-term financing subject to meeting certain conditions, whilst on the other hand it allows Saab Automobile to enter the Chinese car market and establish a technology partnership with a strong Chinese manufacturer.”

So who is Hawtai? Hawtai is a China-based automaker that was founded 10 years ago. Hawtai currently produces 350,000 vehicles, 300,000 clean diesel engines and 450,000 automatic transmissions. By 2015, Hawtai aims to have raised this capacity to 1 million vehicles, 1 million engines and 1 million automatic transmissions.

Last week Saab announced a new partnership with China’s Hawtai Motor Group Company Limited. The deal included a 29.9 stake in Saab for 150 million euros ($216 million), but it looks like that deal has collapsed. It’s being reported that Hawtai was unable to obtain the stakeholder support that it needed, which is means that the deal is off.

Saab and Hawtai are still trying to work on a deal, but Saab is also now talking to other potential partners.

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