Sweden’s Saab Automobile failed to secure investment from Hawtai Motor Group because of “commercial and economic realities,” not a lack of government approval, the Chinese company said last Friday. Cooperation with Saab’s owner, Spyker Cars NV, remains a “top priority” for Hawtai and partnership options are still being explored, the Beijing-based company said in a statement. Hawtai agreed on May 3 to invest 120 million euros ($171 million) for a stake of as much as 29.9 percent in Spyker in a transaction that would have eased a cash shortage that halted output at Trollhattan-based Saab on March 29. It also planned to lend 30 million euros to Spyker, which said Thursday the deal had failed to win approval from the Chinese authorities.
“Saab needs help and we strongly believe we are the best partner in this regard,” Richard Zhang, Hawtai’s vice president, said in Friday’s statement. Tom Grimmer, an external spokesman for the Chinese company, declined to elaborate on the failure of the previous plan with Zeewolde, Netherlands,-based Spyker, which would have seen Saab make a comeback in China after being absent since 2008. (Pictured below is a sedan manufactured by Hawtai Motor Group currently in China)
Under that agreement, Hawtai would have made Saab vehicles locally for the Chinese market, starting in 2013 with the Swedish carmaker’s upgraded 9-3 model. Saab said Thursday that it was continuing to work on securing short- and medium-term funding, including talking with “various” Chinese partners. The company can still draw on a 30 million-euro loan arranged last week and is seeking further funding from the European Investment Bank, while Russian banker Vladimir Antonov has said he’d like to take a stake.
