Saab files for bankruptcy protection
Swedish Automobile is hoping to secure investment
Struggling Swedish carmaker Saab is filing for bankruptcy protection.
Its owner Swedish Automobile said the move would protect it from its creditors while it tried to secure additional funding.
Saab had to suspend production in April when its suppliers stopped deliveries after not being paid. Its workers have also had their pay delayed for three months in a row.
Analysts suggested the continued uncertainty was damaging for the brand.
'Wounded animal'
It said it now intended to present a reorganisation plan to creditors within three weeks of filing it in a Swedish court.
Swedish Automobile chief executive Victor Muller told a press conference that it was the intention of the company to pay back all creditors in full - a total of 150m euros ($211m; £132m).
As a result, he said he was confident it would get their support.
He added that when the bankruptcy protection plan is approved by Swedish authorities, Saab's workers would be paid their August wages from the government's wage guarantee scheme.
However, car analyst Jay Nagley, of Red Spy Automotive, told the BBC that the future still looked bleak for Saab.
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Analysis
Jorn Madslien
Business reporter, BBC News
Having applied for protection from its creditors, Saab will now have to rebuild its finances.
Without fresh injections of funds, the company will remain unable to pay its workers and suppliers, hence it will struggle to secure their services in future.
The uncertainty about the carmaker's future has also spooked its customers, so Saab dealers have been finding it increasingly difficult to sell the cars.
With demand for the cars dwindling, and with fears about Saab's ability to continue producing them, most investors will probably shy away from the company.
Hence, anyone still interested will be able to enter the negotiations from a position of power.
Can Saab be saved?
"I'm just amazed that Saab is still alive at this stage," he said.
"It is like a wounded animal. You think it is dead, but then it goes and twitches again."
Mr Nagley added: "The key issue is which motorist in their right mind in Europe or the US would choose to buy a Saab?
"Why would you risk buying an expensive new car if the manufacturer might not be around in three years time?"
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