F1 chief Ecclestone joins bid to save Swedish carmaker Saab; Photocredit: Mingo.nl

Formula One tycoon Bernie Ecclestone teamed up with partner Luxembourg-based investment company Genii Capital yesterday to make a bid to save Swedish carmaker Saab. US automaker GM put the Swedish company up for sale last year because of its low profit turnouts.

Genii Capital, which recently bought a majority stake in Renault’s Formula One race team, believes Saab has, “tremendous brand value in a number of key automotive markets, as well as an innovative image” and pledged to “aggressively work towards a successful closing of the transaction with all the relevant stakeholders of the company,” reported The Guardian.

Ecclestone told the Bloomberg news agency, “It is a good brand that has probably been neglected by the current owners. We don’t own it yet, so let’s see what happens.”

Meanwhile, Saab received another offer from Dutch sports carmaker Spyker, its second since the unsuccessful attempt on 20 December.  Victor Muller, the chief executive of Spyker, said, “We believe the Saab brand has lots of potential and would be keen to close a deal as quickly as possible,” adding that he and GM heads were continuing to have a “constructive dialogue”, reported the BBC.

Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri also reported that a Swedish consortium including Haakon Samuelsson, a former executive with truck firms MAN and Scania, and Jan Nygren, a former politician and one-time executive with the Saab aerospace company, has made a third offer for the company.

Saab, which employs 3,400 people, lost £255 million in 2008 and failed to make a profit since 2001. General Motors announced last month that it planned to shut down the icon car manufacturer after being unable to find a buyer since January of last year, reported The Times.

GM chief executive Ed Whitacre said on Wednesday that a sale seems unlikely as no one has enough finances. He told The Guardian, “It’s real easy. Just show up with the money and you can have it, but nobody’s showing up with the money.”

Saab will hold a board meeting today to discuss how it will restart production on January 11 after a four-week break, reported The Telegraph.