Even though last Friday (19th December 2009) GM confirmed that it would rather kill off Saab than sell it to Spyker, the Dutch supercar maker has tabled a sensational last minute bid today (Monday 21st December) and has given GM until 5pm to reply.
Officially, GM reckoned the reason the Spyker deal fell through was that there simply wasn't enough time to wait until it got its financial act together; things would have gone horribly wrong while all the due diligence was taking place, such is the horrible mess Saab is in. Therefore, the most humane thing to do was kill Saab softly by winding it down in a controlled manner.
Spyker has other ideas though, and having sorted its affairs out (we don't know how yet, mind) it's tabled a fresh offer to GM. But don't get your hopes up just yet, Saab fans - it's still a long shot. General Motors has been trying, unsuccessfully, to flog Saab for months now, and is yet to comment on the renewed offer.
Still, Spyker is dead serious, with Chief Exec Victor Muller saying: "We have asked GM and all other involved parties to seriously consider this offer. Some 1,500,000 Saabs are on the road today and their proud owners would no doubt welcome the survival of this phenomenal brand."
Mark Nichol - 21 Dec 2009