General Motors has agreed to sell its Saab brand to Dutch luxury sports car manufacturer Spyker Cars.

Spyker will pay GM $74 million US in cash and $326 million in preferred shares in the new company.

Although it has begun winding down its Saab operations, GM had not yet laid off any workers ahead of the sale agreement to Spyker. (CBC)

GM said in a conference call Tuesday the Swedish government has agreed to guarantee a loan of $563 million US from the European Investment Bank for the carmaker.

The sale is also still subject to regulatory and court approvals.

GM also said existing warranties and parts and service will be maintained until Spyker can take those over, but the timing of the handover will vary country by country.

Saab is one of four brands GM dropped after its exit from bankruptcy on July 10 in order to focus on Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac. The others are Pontiac, Saturn and Hummer, although the automaker is trying to sell Hummer to a Chinese heavy-equipment maker.

Yearlong effort to sell Saab

GM has been trying to shed Saab for more than a year as part of its restructuring process.

While Saab is an iconic brand, said John Winter, GM's vice-president of global planning and alliances, it's not been a good year for the industry, with "most car companies [kept] very busy presiding over their own restructuring efforts." Had it been a more usual year, he added, "we might have concluded this much earlier."

In Europe, Spyker shares were up 2.8 per cent at $5.50 US before trading was halted pending an announcement. They gained 70 per cent Monday on speculation about the Saab deal.

GM had begun winding Saab down, though its 3,400 employees have not been laid off.

Spyker sold 23 cars in the first half of 2009, its most recent reporting period, and it posted a net loss of nearly $12.3 million. The six-year-old company has yet to make a profit, but it says funding for its operations have been guaranteed through 2010.

Spyker's corporate motto is "Nulla tenaci invia est via," or "for the tenacious, no road is impassable."

Tenacity might be required. Saab's U.S. sales last year amounted to only 8,680, down 59 per cent from 2008 as consumers stayed away from the brand due to uncertainty over its future.

With files from The Associated Press