Spyker submits a new Saab offer to General Motors

GM has been trying to sell Saab since January

Dutch luxury car maker Spyker has submitted a new offer to General Motors (GM) for its Swedish car brand Saab.

GM said this week that it would close Saab after talks with Spyker had collapsed.

Spyker has submitted a new 11-point proposal to GM, addressing the issues that ended talks.

Spyker chief Victor R. Muller said he was "very confident" that the new offer would make GM resume negotiations and lead to a sale.

"We have made every effort to resolve the issues that were preventing the conclusion of this matter and we have asked GM and all other involved parties to seriously consider this offer," Mr Muller said.

"We are very confident that our renewed offer will remove the impasse that was standing in the way of an agreement on Friday, and this would still allow us to conclude the deal prior to the expiry of the deadline originally set by GM."

The original deadline was 31 December.

Saab employs 3,400 people in Sweden and GM has estimated 8,000 people will suffer indirectly from its planned closure.

Last year, Saab lost 3bn kronor (£255m; $412m). It has not made a profit since 2001 and made up 1.1% of GM's global sales.

GM pledged to become a leaner company when it emerged from bankruptcy protection in July this year. It had been hit by a sharp slump in sales - partly because of the financial crisis, but also because of stiff competition from Japanese rivals.

The company is now 62% owned by the US government.

GM said its focus would remain on its four core brands - Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC - as well as its European business Opel.