Dutch auto manufacturer Spyker Cars NV and others have expressed interest in General Motors Corp's Saab unit after GM announded it would close the Swedish automaker.

The end of talks with Spyker last week led to Detroit-based GM's decision to wind down Saab.
The fresh Spyker bid and the other inquiries may revive hopes that money-losing Saab can continue to produce cars.

Some 3,500 jobs are at risk, along with thousands of jobs among suppliers to the automotive industry in Sweden. Two attempts to sell the 72-year-old brand have failed over the last month.

"It's very hard to predict the outcome, particularly since GM in principle has taken a decision to shut Saab down," Spyker Chief Executive Officer Victor Muller said. "There's a dialogue ongoing. We're trying to reach an agreement."

Spyker rose 34 cents, or 20 percent, to 2.05 in Amsterdam for its steepest increase since Dec. 2, valuing the carmaker at 44 million euros ($63 million).

Johan Willems, a GM Europe spokesman, had no comment. GM said in a statement yesterday that the company "will evaluate each inquiry," without identifying the parties that made them.

In its earlier offer, Spyker was bidding in a partnership with RMC Convers Group, a company owned by Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov, who is the automaker's largest shareholder with a 29.3 percent stake.

Mubadala Development Co., a state-owned Abu Dhabi-based investment company, is also a stakeholder of the Dutch maker of $235,000 sports cars.

GM's board decided last month to restructure its European Opel unit as a subsidiary, rather than selling a majority stake to Magna International Inc. (MGA) and Russian lender OAO Sberbank.

Agencies