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Saab, Hawtai 150 million euro deal collapses

Last week CarAdvice reported that a deal had been made between Chinese auto manufacturing company Hawtai and Spyker, which included a 150 million euro ($200 million) investment into Saab. The deal would have helped kick-start production at Saab's Trolhattan plant in Sweden. The deal has now collapsed.


Hawtai was planning to invest 150 million euro into Spyker (Saab's owner) and take a 29.9 percent ownership of the company. These funds would have helped Saab pay outstanding supplier's bills and continue production of its cars. Spyker has just announced the deal won't be going through as approval on Hawtai's part couldn't be finalised.

Key stakeholders in Hawtai couldn't all approve of the investment which has left Saab, unfortunately, clinging by the threads again. It's a shame as Saab's future was starting to look bright after a couple of years in the shadows.

There is a bit of a positive spin on all this though. According to an insider source, Spyker and Great Wall Motors have been talking about a partnership deal as well. Talks were even had during the Hawtai deal. The source was quoted as saying in Automotive News,

"It could be mutually beneficial if Great Wall and Spyker team up eventually. The Chinese partner has the cash that Spyker needs, while Saab's technologies and its network in Europe are valuable for the Chinese side."

It's unknown if a potential deal between the two has been pitched. If one has, it will need to win Chinese government endorsement, a process which is often time consuming and also has the potential to collapse.

Great Wall is apparently interested in partnering as it could use Saab's European network to introduce Great Wall cars into parts of Europe, and to gain access to Saab technology.

We'll keep you updated.

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