Saab's fate in the balance

1950: A Saab 92 car. With its streamlined body and a 2-cylinder engine that delivered just 25 horsepower, it immediately became an icon of efficiency and functionality. Its drag coefficient of 0.35 was the lowest of any production car at that time and lower than many in production today. Photograph: General Motors/guardian.co.uk

1989: A Saab 900i 16v 4 door saloon Photograph: Bob Masters Classic Car Images //guardian.co.uk

September 1998: Two new SAAB 9-5 cars in an orchestrated head-on collision crash during safety tests at the SAAB factory. The Swedish car maker that has always touted the safety features of its cars, held a news conference in Paris to present its new 9-5 break ahead of the Paris motor show Photograph: guardian.co.uk

January 2000: General Motors President Rick Wagoner, left, and Saab Chief Operating Officer Peter Augustsson at a press conference at the North American International Motor Show, Detroit, after General Motors announces it is to buy Saab Photograph: Sipa Press/guardian.co.uk

October 2004: Workers leave Saab's manufacturing plant in Trollhattan, Sweden after a two hours meeting, with their heads bowed down. They protested over a planned wave of job cuts by General Motors that will see 12,000 jobs in Europe eliminated by 2006 Photograph: Niklas Larsson/Pressens Bild/guardian.co.uk

July 2006: The Aero X, a concept car by Saab, is unveiled at the British International Motor Show in London Photograph: Luke MacGregor/guardian.co.uk

October 4, 2007: An employee works on the wheel of a car at the SAAB automobile factory in Trollhattan, Sweden. Saab sales fell 9 percent to 64,580 vehicles in the first nine months of the year Photograph: Eric Roxfelt/Bloomberg/guardian.co.uk

2008: The Saab 9-X Air concept car is displayed at the Paris Mondial de l'Automobile Photograph: Jacky Naegelen/guardian.co.uk

September 9, 2009: Visitors walk past the stand of BAIC (Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation) at an exhibition in Beijing in May. Luxury sportscar maker Koenigsegg has said that Chinas BAIC would take a stake in the group to help finance its purchase of Saab Automobile from General Motors. Koenigsegg said in a statement that the memorandum of understanding signed with Beijing Automotive Industry Holding (BAIC) would see the Chinese firm take a minority stake in Koenigssegg Group, which in turn would own 100 percent of Saab Photograph: Imaginechina/guardian.co.uk

November 2009: Swedish automobile maker Christian von Koenigsegg poses with a Saab 9-5 at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 2009. The Koenigsegg Group AB has said it is abandoning plans to buy Saab Automobile from General Motors Corp Photograph: Bjorn Larsson Rosvall/guardian.co.uk

November 30, 2009: A visitor looks at the Saab 9-4X BioPower concept car on display at the Saab motor museum in Trollhattan, Sweden. Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. said it will 'move fast' on General Motors Co.'s Saab unit after its partner pulled out of making a bid for the Swedish carmaker Photograph: Bloomberg/guardian.co.uk

December 15, 2009: A Spyker LM85 car sits outside the Spyker Cars NV factory in Zeewolde, Netherlands. General Motors Co. has adjusted its plan for Saab to focus on selling the Swedish unit, with Spyker Cars NV emerging as a frontrunner, according to people familiar with the situation. Photographer: /Bloomberg via Getty Images Photograph: Jock Fistick/Bloomberg/guardian.co.uk

December 18, 2009: SAAB Managing Director Jan Ake Jonsson gives a press conference in Trollhattan. General Motors said in a statement it had failed to reach an agreement with Dutch sports car maker Spyker on a sale of the division, just three weeks after another luxury car maker, Koenigsegg of Sweden, withdrew its bid for Saab Photograph: Adam Ihse/guardian.co.uk

December 18, 2009: A security guard stands next to a Saab vehicle at a Saab dealership in Beijing, China. Beijing Autos said it wants to explore further cooperation with GM's Saab Automobile, such as 'new energy vehicles', after earlier announcing the purchase of car and engine technology from the struggling brand. BAIC President Wang Dazhong said Saab also wants his company to import and sell Saab brand vehicles in China, which this year became the world's biggest auto market Photograph: Elizabeth Dalziel/guardian.co.uk