Saab files to unwind its assets

VANERSBORG, Sweden, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Saab Automobile's parent company in Sweden has filed papers to liquidate the company, which has run out of funding options, court papers say.

In papers filed in a Vanersborg, Sweden, court, Swedish Automobile said it "does not expect to realize any value from its shares in Saab Automobile … and will write off its interest in Saab Automobile completely," The New York Times reported Monday.

Saab's main assembly plant in Trollhattan, Sweden, has been idle since suppliers cut the company off, refusing to extend it more credit during the summer.

The company, which started making cars in 1947, then turned to Chinese firms in search of an investor that could save the upscale brand that General Motors sold in early 2010, not long after GM emerged from bankruptcy.

GM, however, vetoed Swedish Automobile's attempt to find funding in China, concerned that it would "negatively impact GM's existing relationships in China," court papers said.

GM had veto power, because it still owns several critical patents for Saab vehicles.