Saab Owner Sues GM for $3 billion over Bankruptcy

Following up on the bankruptcy of ‘Saab’ in December last year, the current owner Spyker said on 6 August that the company has filed a three-billion-dollar claim in a US court against General Motors whose action it said lead directly to Saab’s bankruptcy.

“The lawsuit seeks redress for the unlawful actions GM took to avoid competition with Saab Automobile in the Chinese market,” Saab’s owner Spyker said in a statement issued in Zeewolde in the Netherlands.

Saab has filed bankruptcy last year after attempts to raise funds in China were thwarted by General Motors, which had previously owned Saab and refused a transfer of patents needed for the Chinese deal to go through.

“GM’s actions had the direct and intended objective of driving Saab Automobile into bankruptcy, a result of GM’s tortious interfering with a transaction to restructure and remain a solvent growing concern,” Spyker said in the statement.

Spyker said it would pay for Saab’s legal costs in return for a “very substantial share of Saab Automobile’s award when the proceedings are successful,” it added.

Saab received a new lease on life last month with Asian investors aiming to revive the iconic brand to make electric cars for the Chinese market buying the company out of bankruptcy.

National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (NEVS), a new company created by two firms in Hong Kong and Japan just a few months ago and registered in Sweden with the express purpose of buying Saab, said it would buy the automaker for an undisclosed sum.

Chinese carmaker Youngman had long been interested in buying Saab and tried to snap it up before it declared bankruptcy but those efforts were stymied by Saab’s former owner GM, which ceased the transfer of the necessary technology licences.

Spyker bought Saab from GM two years ago for $400 million.



 

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