Saab sks Sweden to relax terms of rescue loans

Saab Automobile, offered for sale by General Motors Co., asked Sweden's government to relax the rules of state rescue loans and provide funding, a union chief said.

Should the government agree, Saab wants it to inform GM before the U.S. company reviews the unit's future at a board meeting on Dec. 1, Paul Aakerlund, head of the Swedish carmaker's IF Metall labor union, said in an interview today.

Saab is seeking a buyer after Koenigsegg Group dropped a takeover bid on Nov. 24, saying it had run out of time to do the deal. Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co., Merbanco Inc. and Renco Group Inc. have since made approaches, according to two people familiar with the situation, and Aakerlund said state aid might persuade GM to keep Saab going until a purchaser is found.

"It would be an incredibly big plus if the government sends that signal to GM," he said in the interview in Trollhaettan, where Saab is based. "Somewhere even the government realizes there is a possibility to do this, and while it requires a decision by parliament, that could be done in an afternoon."

Voice-mail and e-mail messages left for Chris Preuss, a GM spokesman, weren't immediately returned.

The Swedish government has been criticized by workers, opposition politicians and residents in Trollhaettan -- where 7,000 jobs may be lost if Saab fails -- for not doing enough to help the unprofitable unit, which needs a buyer to ramp up output and start selling its first new model in seven years.

Sweden's Help

Sweden unveiled a 28 billion-krona ($4 billion) aid package for its automotive industry last December that aimed to secure jobs, ease access to funding and push fuel-efficient vehicles.