Dutch supercar maker and former Saab owner Spyker has been declared bankrupt by a district court, which ended a moratorium of payments that was granted to the company on December 2.
The court came to this decision because a bridge loan did not arrive in time, said Spyker. Moreover, a US court dismissed a US$3 billion lawsuit it had filed against General Motors over tampering with the Saab sale.
Spyker CEO Victor Muller, though, seemed undeterred by the court’s decision and pledged to save the company, quoting Winston Churchill’s 1942 speech on the battle against Germany in WWII. “As far as I am concerned, this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end”, he said. “But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. Muller also said that he will “relentlessly endeavor to resurrect Spyker as soon as practically possible”.
Muller founded Spyker in 2000, bringing to life the nameplate of an early 20th century. It acquired Saab in January 2010 from former owner GM for around US$74 million in cash but has since struggled to find funding, eventually selling the ailing Swedish automaker to NEVS – which, coincidentally, is on the verge of bankruptcy…
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