A Saab Story

GM's Saab division has gone into bankruptcy.

STOCKHOLM (AP) -- General Motors Corp.'s Swedish-based subsidiary Saab went into court protection from creditors Friday so the unit can be spun off or sold by its struggling U.S. parent, officials said.

The move is a last-ditch effort to get Saab in order for sale, but the danger of a collapse still hovers over the ailing brand because neither GM nor the Swedish government appears ready to provide enough money to keep it going as a freestanding entity.

An application to reorganize the brand was filed at a district court in Vanersborg, in southwestern Sweden, Saab spokeswoman Margareta Hogstrom said. It was approved later Friday.

GM, which is seeking help from the U.S. government to avoid bankruptcy at home, hopes the three-month reorganization process will put the Swedish brand into shape for a sale, GM spokesman Chris Preuss said. "We fully intend to be out of Saab by the end of the year," he said.

I wonder why the Swedes don't recognize their patriotic duty to save the American/Swedish car industry? Oh, well. There is always the American Congress.