Dutch carmaker Spyker Cars NV emerged as a suitor Sunday to acquire Saab from General Motors Co., which struck a tentative accord with Beijing Automotive Industry Holding for the right to produce versions of the Swedish manufacturer's older models in China, people familiar with the talks told The New York Times.
If completed, the deal would not prevent a separate buyout of all of Saab, a unit of General Motors that was left flailing after negotiations last month between GM and the high-end Swedish automaker Koenigsegg to buy it failed.
As American automakers have contended with huge losses -- and bankruptcy in the case of GM and Chrysler -- Asian buyers have stepped in to scoop up several of their luxury brands.
In March 2008, Tata Motors of India bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford for $2.3 billion, and Ford is now in final negotiations to sell Volvo to Zhejiang Geely Holding of China.
A spokesman for GM declined to comment on Sunday about Saab's talks with Beijing Automotive. Several buyers are reportedly still negotiating to buy Saab. These include Renco, owned by the American financier Ira L. Rennert, and Spyker, a specialty automaker in the Netherlands.
