国际英语新闻：GM to sell Saab to Koenigsegg

CHICAGO, June 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. automaker General Motors Corp.(GM) agreed Tuesday to sell Saab automobile, its struggling Swedish unit known for its family cars, to a consortium led by Swedish Koenigsegg Automotive AB, a tiny luxury carmaker, reports reaching here said.

    GM, which filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 1, said in a memorandum of understanding that the sale would include an expected 600-million-U.S.-dollar funding commitment from the European Investment Bank, guaranteed by the Swedish government.

    Additional funding for Saab's operations and investments would be provided by GM and Koenigsegg Group AB, GM said.

National flags of the United States flutter in front of the logo of Saab at a car dealership in New York, the United States, April 7, 2009. Saab Automobile, the troubled Swedish unit of Genral Motors Corp, has been contacted by 20 potential buyers, with a sale planned in June, the carmaker's lawyer said on Monday. The lawyer also said a sale of the company is a "crucial prerequisite for a successful reconstruction."

    The sale is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter and is subject to regulatory approvals by authorities.

    This is yet another significant step in the reinvention of GM and its European operations," GM Europe President, Carl-Peter Forster, said in a statement.

    The company behind the consortium, Koenigsegg Automotive, was founded in 1994 by Christian von Koenigsegg, a Swedish sports car fanatic and entrepreneur, who remains the chief executive. It makes luxury sports cars at its headquarters, a former air force base near Angelholm, in southern Sweden.