As you may recall, Saab was recently forced to file for bankruptcy, after General Motors nixed any potential deal with Saab’s various Chinese partners, fearing its hard-earned technology could fall into the wrong hands – which is to say, any hands other than SAIC’s, GM’s official Chinese partner. But that doesn’t necessarily preclude Turkish or Indian ownership.

That said, a recent report indicates that Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., India’s biggest SUV maker, is interested in buying at least parts of the bankrupt Swedish carmaker, Saab Automobile.

Mahindra is in the process of trying to set up meetings with the two court-appointed administrators who are overseeing Saab’s bankruptcy to possibly buy parts of the carmaker or the whole company.

Rumour has it that a Turkish company is also interested in investing in Saab. The Turkish government wants the country to have a car brand of its own, and is trying to help a manufacturer take over at least parts of Saab.

Hans Bergqvist and Anne-Marie Pouteaux, the attorneys handling the bankruptcy, didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment.

In any case, we’d wager that neither the Turkish concern nor Mahindra would make a full-out purchase of the brand. It seems more likely that Saab’s most desirable assets would be its manufacturing capabilities, tooling and in-house technology. Stay tuned for more as this story develops.

After several long and painful months of struggling to stay afloat, Saab has reached the end of the road and filed for bankruptcy. This has been confirmed by several Swedish newspapers, as well as the district court in Vänersborg, Sweden.

Saab chief executive Victor Muller, who handed in the bankruptcy application on Monday, described the latest General Motors decision as “the last nail in the coffin of this beautiful company”.

Saab’s last hope was to be taken over by Chinese company Youngman. This was initially a controversial option but as time passed, it became evident that it was the only option left.

Youngman already sent Saab almost $4.5 million last week and allowed it to closely avoid bankruptcy. It promised subsequent payments and things were beginning to look up for the first time in a long while.

Over the weekend Youngman told the ailing automaker that it couldn’t continue to fund it because ex-owner General Motors was relentlessly blocking any Chinese involvement in the company. This included everything from a loan to a complete takeover.

Some accuse General Motors of killing Saab, while others say that the company merely defended its own interests. Whatever the case may be, it left Saab in a bad situation: it no longer had a potential new owner, and it did not have the necessary funds to pay its debts and continue its operations. Saab has been in a state of suspended production since April when the company ran out of cash and the company’s creditors came knocking.

Saab’s Board of Directors met over the weekend and decided that it was in the best interest of the company, its employees and its creditors to file for bankruptcy. Three of the companies affected are Saab Automobile AB (Saab Automobile), Saab Automobile Tools AB and Saab Powertrain AB.

Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swan) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chinese automakers, Youngman and Pang Da for the sale and purchase of 100% of the shares of Saab for EUR 100 million (approximately RM 435 million).

So far only a MoU has been signed, with the final agreement between the parties still subject to a definitive share purchase agreement between Swedish Automobile, Pang Da and Youngman.

This will contain certain conditions including the approval of the relevant authorities, namely, the Chinese government and Swedish Automobile’s own shareholders.

The move means Mr. Guy Lofalk, the court-appointed administrator of Saab’s reorganization process, has withdrawn his application to exit the process, thus saving the automaker from having its bankruptcy protection removed.

The MoU is valid until 15th November 2011, provided Saab stays in reorganization.

This move represents the latest push by the Chinese to break into the global automotive market. In July of 2010, the Chinese government approved a deal that saw the sale of Volvo to Geely for the sum of $1.8 billion (approximately RM 5.53 billion).

Saab is also jumping onto the EV-bandwagon and is planning to introduce its first real foray into the EV world at this year’s paris Motor Show.

Called the ePower, the long-roof Swede is the prototype for a test fleet of 70 vehicles set to be launched in 2012. The company is shooting for a range of around 200km thanks to a 35.5-kWh lithium-ion battery pack, though the range figure number is somewhat flexible due to the fact that it will be largely dependent on driving habits. Power is supplied by a 184bhp electric motor mated to a single-speed transmission.

With all of that power, Saab says the ePower will be able to get to 100kmh in around 8.5s. That’s not exactly slow by anyone’s measure. Top speed is a more than capable 150kmh, too.

The company says that its battery tech should allow the cells to survive up to 10 years of regular charge and discharge cycles, and that the ePower can be fully charged in as little as six hours using a “domestic mains” supply.

The Dutch supercar manufacturer has indicated that it plans to almost double the number of Spyker dearlerships around the world from 35 to 60 by utilizing the Saab’s old dealer network.

If you’re wondering how dealerships that struggled to move $30,000 9-3 sedans are going to manage to talk buyers into the driver’s seat of a $215,000 C8 Aileron, you’re not alone. Odds are the Spykers will serve as halo cars for the rest of the Saab fleet, but there are other hurdles facing the company’s plans for expansion – production.

Spyker is a notoriously low-volume manufacturer – we’re talking somewhere in the mid-double-digits each year, or about one car per every proposed dealership. Is the company planning on borrowing some of Saab’s production might to get a few more models out the door annually? Hard telling. For now, the only real sharing going on between the two automakers is in tiny parts like windshield wiper motors.

As we reported before, it may seem like Spyker was one of the unlikely buyers of Saab but the thing for sure is that it is set to struggle with the real challenge which is to convert two loss-making companies into a profitable one.

Spyker Chief Executive Victor Muller also bought out his largest shareholder, Russian bank tycoon Victor Antonov, as part of the deal but the new Saab Spyker Automobiles NV faces huge challenges. The persistent losses, outdated designs, high labour costs, declining sales and, perhaps above all, little belief in the industry that it can pull off a turnaround.

“It seems like a gamble. They’ve got the new 9-5, the 9-4X coming out next and the new 9-3 should be coming out in 2012, which could be quite lucrative, but whether they can attract customers back to the brand and make it profitable again is the billion-dollar question,” IHS Global’s Ian Fletcher said.

Spyker, which only makes several dozen handmade supercars every year, is hoping to benefit from Saab’s technical resources and its distribution network, while CEO Muller has said he hopes the sports car maker will inject entrepreneurial spirit into the Saab brand. Saab, which has lost money over the past decade, was put up for sale more than a year ago. GM has suspended its plans to wind down Saab operations, pending a February closing.

At Spyker headquarters in the Dutch city of Zeewolde, there were high spirits at work on Wednesday. Hans van Rennes, Spyker’s vice president of marketing, said a Saab dealer sent the company a cake and one-time Saab suitor Koenigsegg called to offer its congratulations. Outside the offices, a Dutch television show organised a parade of old and new Saab cars.But happiness at Saab’s rescue aside, Spyker’s financing remains a question. As recently as July, the company did not have the money lined up for its 2010 production.

The new deal includes a 400 million euro loan to Saab from the European Investment Bank (EIB), with a Swedish government guarantee. European Union regulators said on Wednesday they would review the guarantee plans as early as possible.

GM hasn’t lost hope that it will find a buyer for Saab following the breakdown of negotiations with Swedish sports car maker Koenigsegg. Swedish government officials said GM still appears to believe that a suitable buyer can be found for the premium automobile brand.

“I talked to GM last night and my impression is that they have not given up hope,” said Joran Hagglund, state secretary at Sweden’s Industry.

As of yet, the Swedish government has shown zero interest in bailing out the Saab brand, though it did issue credit guarantees to make a private sale more appealing to the buyer. Still, the actual sale of the Saab brand rests squarely on GM’s shoulders.

“This is in GM’s hands,” Swedish Enterprise Minister Maud Olofsson told reporters. “They must decide whether they can sell Saab and if so to whom.”

“For every day that passes the challenge gets bigger and bigger,” said Olofsson.

What do you think will happen to Saab? Will GM find a new buyer?

Koenigsegg, the Swedish supercar builder, has terminated a deal to purchase premium automaker Saab.  No details on why the deal went sour, except for GM stating that the proposed sale “was terminated at the discretion of the buyer.”

“We’re obviously very disappointed with the decision to pull out of the Saab purchase,” said Fritz Henderson, GM president and CEO. “Many have worked tirelessly over the past several months to create a sustainable plan for the future of Saab by selling the brand and its manufacturing interests to Koenigsegg Group AB. Given the sudden change in direction, we will take the next several days to assess the situation and will advise on the next steps next week.”The Saab-Koenigsegg deal was announced in mid-August, with Koenigsegg proposing that it take a 100% stake in Saab. The sale came not long after GM announced it would stop funding the automaker should a sale not be tied up by January 1, 2010. All reports have had negotiations running relatively smoothly between GM and Koenigsegg, with some reporting that the sale was in its final stages and could be wrapped up by year’s end. More recently, reports were out that Koenigsegg would be shutting down a sizeable chunk of U.S. Saab dealers upon completion of the sale, and that inventory was running low at existing dealerships, leading to worries that there may be a Saab shortage in the near future.

Saab’s flagging sales and financial troubles were expected to be alleviated somewhat by a highly-anticipated new version of its flagship 9-5 sedan. The car made a debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show to generally positive response, leading Saab execs to believe that 50,000 of the new sedans could be sold annually after the model hit showrooms in early 2010. The industry is now left to wonder if any new 9-5 sedans will ever be produced.