NEW YORK — General Motors Co. is pressing ahead with plans to shut down Saab, though it will continue to hear bids for the Swedish car brand, a company spokesman said Wednesday.
Tom Wilkinson said the automaker is not commenting on reports that a deadline for proposals for Saab has been extended to Jan. 7. GM had previously said it was giving bidders until today to come forward with an offer for Saab until it decided earlier this month that it would wind down the brand.
“During the wind-down process, we’ve heard from a number of people with proposals for Saab, and we’re going to evaluate the proposals as we start the wind-down,” Wilkinson said.
Saab spokesman Gunilla Gustavs said GM’s decision to wind down Saab still stands, though it will still entertain bids. Today is “no longer a magical date” where a GM decision should be expected, Gustavs said.
GM has been in talks to sell Saab over the past month with Dutch exotic-car maker Spyker Cars.
It has also heard from other suitors after an attempt to sell the brand to a consortium led by Swedish sports car manufacturer Koenigsegg Automotive AB fell apart in November.
On Dec. 18, GM announced its intention to close down the storied Swedish brand. 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.
GM is eliminating Saab along with Pontiac, Hummer and Saturn as part of a restructuring plan that will leave it with four core brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick.
Spyker is a niche company that manufactures a small number of exotic sports cars that fetch $200,000 or more. Last year, the company produced just 43 vehicles and lost $35.7 million.
Information for this article was contributed by Louise Nordstrom of The Associated Press.
Business, Pages 24 on 12/31/2009