As part of Spyker’s capital-raising efforts for its ailing Saab brand, the Dutch automaker is entering into talks with Chinese automotive company Pang Da, and will have to rename itself as Swedish Automobile N.V. as part of the deal.

Vladimir Antonov is a man on a mission. Namely, he wants a sweet piece of the pie known as  Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget; but the forces that conspire against him include the Swedish government and federal investigators. So you think any support he gets against his powerful foes would be a credit to him, right?

Saab has been surrounded by general corporate uncertainty and financial trouble over the last few weeks. The failed deal with China’s Hawtai Motor and Saab’s $100 million payment mishap with its parts suppliers have taken a toll on the Swedish automaker however the company may have a second chance.

Since “All My Children” and “One Life To Live” have been canceled, soap opera fans can turn to Swedish car-firm Saab for their weekly dose of drama.

Somewhere, somehow, we think Samuel Hubinette may have something to do with this crazy Viper-powered Saab 9-3. Hubinette, known as “The Crazy Swede” and campaigned a Dodge Viper in many successful bouts of tandem drifting in his days, so it’d only make sense that this Saab 9-3 with a Viper V-10 would have to do with him. But alas, it has absolutely nothing to do with the drifter and apparently there’s a crazier Swede out there.

Saab appears to have yet again found a savior in China, announcing a joint venture with Pangda Automobile Trade Co., the largest distributor of vehicles in the world’s largest car market.

Ten months before the Saab 9-4X was supposed to start production in 2009, General Motors announced that the Swedish brand was for sale and the 9-4X was on hold. Dust settled atop the luxury midsize vehicle’s assembly tools for more than two years until the Netherlands’ Spyker Cars became the Swedish-born company’s new owner in early 2010. Finally, just a few days ago, a few journalists had seat time in the 9-4X.

It might start to be a real sob story over at Saab, if the Swedish automaker can’t find a partner to help finance operations and help get production restarted. News of a most recent deal with Chinese automaker Great Wall might be little more than a rumor, with the Associated Press now reporting a Great Wall representative is denying any talks between the two automakers.

With the apparent collapse of the deal between Hawtai and Spyker, the Dutch parent company of Saab is now courting Chinese automaker Great Wall in an apparent bid to find a partner for the ailing Saab brand.

Poor Saab, it just can’t seem to catch a break. After negotiations with several Chinese automakers, it appeared that a deal with Hawtai Motor Group had been reached. Now that deal has collapsed.

Saab’s partnership with Chinese automaker Hawtai could see the ill-fated Swedish luxury brand use its dealer network to sell cheap Chinese cars in America, with some priced at the magic $10,000 mark.

Federal regulators are investigating 865,000 General Motors SUVs, including the 2005-’07 Chevrolet Trailblazer and Buick Rainier,for faulty fuel gauges that are inaccurate. The 2005-’06 Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT, the 2005-’07 GMC Envoy, the 2005-’06 GMC Envoy XL and the 2005-’07 Saab 9-7X are also affected vehicles being investigated.

Saab is hitting the road in an effort to promote its new financial backers, but the road show will have to wait for approval from several authorities who must approve Saab’s transactions with China’s Hawtai Motor Group and Russian financier Vladimir Antonov.

April’s U.S. sales figures are in, and to the surprise of exactly no one, $4-gallon gas and continuing unrest in basically everywhere has led to a surge in small car sales.

Saab has been rescued from near-collapse yet again after an agreement was signed with China’s Hawtai Motor Group. The agreement will form a joint venture for manufacturing, distribution and technology between Saab owner Spyker and Hawtai. It will also provide $222 million in funding for Saab, ending the Swedish automaker’s halt in production caused by insufficient payment of supplier bills. The deal will see Hawtai take a maximum 29.9 percent take in Spyker.

In this era of relatively high fuel prices, motorists are looking to save every last drop of gas they can. However, if they drive a General Motors SUV they might be carrying less fuel in their tanks than they actually  think.

With Saab parent company Spyker Cars having secured a 30 million euro short-term loan, Saab vehicles will now resume production after a payment dispute with suppliers forced them to suspend their operations.

Having reported a first quarter net loss of 72 million Euros ($107 million), Saab‘s owner Spyker Cars has now said that, due to ongoing production problems at its assembly plant as well as supplier issues, the struggling Swedish automaker will simply not be able to meet it’s 2011 production forecasts.

Vladimir Antonov, Russian banker, investor, billionaire, and perennial runner-up for Most Interesting Man In The World Award, has been cleared by the Swedish National Debt Office to become a shareholder in Spyker, and ultimately Saab.

Saab’s attempt at selling off assets to a Russian financial magnate Vladimir Antonov has stalled after the European Investment Bank told the Swedish auto maker to essentially find a new partner within a set time frame.

It’s no secret that Saab has been struggling since becoming ‘independent.’ The company, purchased from GM by Spyker last year has continued to face financial and supply problems, which has stunted production and resulted in sales falling far short of projected targets.

Ever since Saab Automobiles was cut free from General Motors and taken over by Spyker it’s been struggling to move forward.

Saab parent company Spyker held talks with parts suppliers Thursday, in a bid to restart production that has been halted over a dispute regarding unpaid bills.

Saab has halted production yet again amid another dispute with suppliers. Saab representatives declined to say how long the production stoppage would last, but said that they were in discussions with their suppliers to resolve the matter. Saab’s parent company Spyker said that last week’s production stoppage was related to unpaid bills.

Despite sharing a good deal of componentry with it’s Cadillac cousin; the SRX;  Saab’s upcoming 9-4X crossover is not following the same path as the Caddy for 2012; at least when it comes to engines.

After a tiff with suppliers who had halted their parts deliveries, Saab has now resumed production at its main factory.

Saab CEO Jan Ake Jonsson will retire from Saab on May 19th, with the 59 year old executive leaving Saab during a tumultuous time. Saab Chairman Victor Muller will act as interim CEO as a search for a replacement gets underway.

Saab and German parts manufacturer ZF will establish a new facility in Saab’s hometown of Trolhattan, Sweden, that will build suspension components for their upcoming Phoenix platform cars, one of which will be the next 9-3 sedan.

The plant, which will employ 50 people, will produce front subframes and rear axles for the new cars. The Phoenix platform will likely underpin Saab’s entire new car range, and takes its roots from the competent GM Epsilon platform, which underpins most of their mid-size front-drive vehicles sold today.

[Source: Saab]

Press release below the jump

Saab could have taken the easy way out and upgraded the vehicle architecture of the current 9-3. But instead, they have started work on an entirely new and versatile platform to underpin their 9-3, 9-5 and even larger future models, a move that is far more costly and time-consuming.

Proving the worth of social media ( forums in particular), Saab has just hired on SaabsUnited.com forum founder Steven Wade. Swade, as he’s known on the forum and blog, will be in charge of the social media presence for the Swedish automaker as it searches to reinvent itself.

In response to launching it’s new 9-5, Saab has announced that it will be offering owners of older 9-5s a chance to upgrade their existing cars via an accessories promotion program through dealers.

Saab has created a Facebook page that allows fans of the Swedish meatball to create their own Saab-related page banners, and some may be chosen by Saab to run on AOL, MSN, the New York Times, and Wired, among other influential websites.

Russian billionaire Vladamir Antanov isn’t done with Saab yet. Forced out of the Saab deal when General Motors sold off the Swedish automaker to Spyker, he recently re-acquired the Spkyer brand from the combined Saab Spyker Automobiles through a British coachbuilder he’s heavily invested in.

They still build the 9-3? You betcha, bucko, and they still like the 9-3 enough to give it a few more last hurrahs. But as fans of the original 900 know, all good things must come to an end – and when the replacement for the 9-3 is launched, it will draw much of its development from Saab’s PhoeniX concept.

Reborn from the ashes of a crumbling auto industry last year, Saab‘s latest concept is appropriately named PhoeniX.

Saab has announced it’s updated 2012 9-3, which will be available in sedan, SportWagon or convertible forms. Chief among the changes are a new front fascia which brings the 9-3 in line with bigger brother, the 9-5.

Spyker Cars, a Dutch sports car company no one would know of were it not for its purchase of Saab from GM, has just announced its own sale. Sort of.

Fresh from the clutches of its GM masters, Saab is celebrating its independence (to Spyker, anyway) with another special edition of the aging 9-3 convertible, shown ahead of its formal announcement at the Geneva Auto Show.

Saab employees will get a day off on February 23rd to celebrate the company’s independence from GM and its resurgence as an automaker.

Saab has officially begun production of the 9-4x crossover at their Mexican assembly plant. While the 9-4x was due to hit the market some time ago, financial troubles at GM halted production.

Saab is planning to show off four new models at the Geneva Auto Show, including an all-new hatchback concept that will help put the company back to its five-door (or three-door) roots.

Saab is looking to add some excitement to its 9-3 and 9-5 vehicle models by teaming up with Hirsch Performance, offering the American market accessories to outfit their vehicles. These aftermarket performance products will be available through authorized dealers and will not affect the warranty on Saab’s 9-3 and 9-5.

Another automotive recall has been announced; this time it’s Saab, which is recalling approximately 4,400 9-3 models from the 2010 and 2011 model years.

Unfortunately we have no photos of the Saab 9-5 SportCombi to show you, but considering how wild the 9-5 sedan looks, we’re very excited to see the wagon version debut at March’s Geneva Auto Show.

This partnership has just gotten serious, as Saab has now announced that Hirsch Performance will be its official performance parts supplier, and these parts for the first time will also be available in America. So come spring-time, you can go to your local Saab dealer and order items to upgrade your 2007-2011 model 9-3 and 2010-2011 model 9-5.

You can help make a wish come true by test driving a Saab.

The Saab 9-4x will come to America starting at a base price of $34,205 when it hits American dealers sometime in 2011. The $34k entry point will get you a front drive 9-4x with GM’s 3.0L direct injection V6.

Taking a page from Hyundai’s playbook, customers who pre-order a Saab 9-4X crossover will get an iPad courtesy of Saab – sort of.

Sharing much of the same architecture as the Cadillac SRX, the new Saab 9-4x also comes with the same 3.0L V6 and 2.8L turbocharged V6 engines, pumping out 265 and 300 horsepower respectively. Torque vectoring all-wheel-drive is available, while a 6-speed automatic gearbox helps put the power down. It’s a handsome crossover in person, nice materials, and lots of room inside.

This is the last model jointly developed with GM, by the way.

New Saab Designer Jason Castriota is working on a new 9-3 that they promise will be instantly recognizable as a Saab even without any badging. Check out our live pics and the press release below.

Official release after the jump:

Saab is planning on letting buyers watch their cars get assembled at their Swedish plant via a webcam link, as the company seeks to move back to a more personalized buying process.

Saab’s 9-4x crossover will finally see the light of day, and we have some of the first pictures of the car ahead of its Los Angeles Auto Show debut.

Saab has officially announced the start of a business relationship with BMW, signing an agreement today that will see the German automaker supply the Swedish company with powertrains for future products. In particular, BMW will supply Saab with turbocharged 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engines, designed to meet Saab’s specific requirements. These would be the same engines that BMW currently uses in models like the MINI Cooper S, Clubman S and Countryman S – as well as John Cooper Works models.

There’s no official word on what the engines will be used for, but Saab Spyker CEO Victor Muller has made it clear he is looking to develop a rival to the MINI Cooper (possibly named the 9-2), and certain reports have even suggested Saab will also buy the current MINI platform off BMW to use

The move by BMW is a clever strategy to sell off its “used” engine technology as BMW is believed to be developing a new line of turbocharged 3-cylinder to produce similar power with significantly better fuel economy than the current turbo 4-cylinder line.

There also remains a possibility that Saab could use the new BMW engines for the 9-3 – at least in Europe.

Official release after the jump:

After numerous rumors, reports and plenty of speculation, Saab is set to sign a deal with BMW that will see the Swedish automaker get access to BMW technology and parts for future models. It is believed the first such model will include the a Saab small car based on the current MINI Cooper platform.

Saab will release 70 electric vehicles based on the 9-3 SportCombi station wagon as part of a test fleet for its upcoming electric vehicle program. The vehicles, dubbed the ePower, will be offered in Sweden starting in 2011, with a mass production EV hitting the market in 2011.

With the Saab 9-5 getting all of the attention over the Saab, the Swedish car maker is looking to freshen up its entry-level 9-3 with some new styling.

A tricycle just won’t cut it for your little style maven. Your child must have the finer things in life – and that’s why your mini motorist should be puttering around in Playsam’s Roadster Saab.

With news of a 9-2 model in the works for Saab, the Swedish automaker looks to expand its product offering further by launching a competitor to the Audi TT. The team at AutoExpress recently sat down with new Saab design boss Jason Castriota, who revealed the plans for the Swedish sports car, taking inspiration from the 1970s Sonett.

The official Twitter feed of the Los Angeles Auto Show has confirmed that the Saab 9-4X crossover will bow at the West Coast’s major auto show this November, hot on the heels of the brand’s flagship 9-5 sedan.

Saab is reportedly considering a return to the World Rally Championship. News of this exciting development comes after executives at Saab’s new parent company (Dutch sports car maker Spyker) recently met with WRC bosses in private.

It’s going to be a busy few years for Saab, as the company readies its re-entry into the auto market with a wave of all-new product. First up is a refreshed 9-3, Saab’s bread and butter range that encompasses a sedan, station wagon and the infamous convertible. Minor cosmetic tweaks will be on hand, as will a revised 2.0L four-cylinder making 163 horsepower, or 220 horsepower when turbocharged. A diesel engine will be offered in Europe, and you can bet that it won’t be offered in North America.