BAIC-Saab deal

The purchase of intellectual property rights from Saab will help BAIC develop its own brand of cars using the Swedish carmaker's technology, and includes some equipment to make the Saab 9-5 and 9-3 models, a statement by GM said. No price tag for the deal was made public.

In a separate statement, Jan Ake Jonsson, managing director of Saab, said that the deal was "excellent for both parties, now and for the future."

The announcement comes after BAIC, China's fifth largest automaker, and Swedish high-end sports car maker, Koenigsegg, retracted their joint bid for Saab in November. Koenigsegg had wanted a 600-million-euro loan from the European Investment Bank and guarantees from the Swedish government if it bailed out Saab.

GM has given Saab a reprieve until the end of December. At stake are some 3,500 jobs at Saab and perhaps 3,000 more at suppliers, if the car company does not find a buyer. Dutch sports car maker Spyker said earlier this month that it was in talks with GM to buy Saab.

The technology sale to BAIC has been called a "clever move" by automotive analysts. Hou Yankun, at Nomura International in Hong Kong, said the Chinese auto sector "needed technology to launch new models and build up its brands step by step."

BAIC already has joint ventures with Germany's Daimler and South Korea's Hyundai. An attempt by BAIC to buy GM's German unit, Opel, collapsed last July after the Chinese automaker failed to reach an agreement on intellectual property rights.

gb/dpa/AFP

Editor: Darren Mara