GM and Dutch sports-car maker Spyker decided there was "no point in carrying on" after encountering issues that couldn't be resolved, GM Vice President John Smith said on a conference call today. He declined to elaborate on the sticking points.

Closing Saab caps more than a month of reshuffling of GM's European operations. On Nov. 3, the Detroit-based automaker reversed plans to sell the Opel unit and opted to retain it, and Koenigsegg Group AB backed out of a Saab purchase agreement three weeks later, creating an opening for Spyker.

"If these folks from Spyker were serious, they would have been in the running earlier on," said Michael Robinet, a CSM Worldwide Inc. analyst in Northville, Michigan. "Brands, manufacturing and technology are not just things you can sever off very easily." GM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ed Whitacre said Dec. 15 he would shutter the unit unless he had a sales accord by month's end. Trollhaettan, Sweden-based Saab was among four U.S. brands targeted for disposal as GM focuses on Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC after its July 10 bankruptcy exit.

GM notified the terminated dealerships of the decision on Thursday, GM spokeswoman Ryndee Carney said. All Saab dealers signed a termination agreement in June when GM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The terms of those termination agreements will go into effect for rejected dealerships, Carney said.

Koenigsegg will operate the brand through a new entity, Saab Cars North America Inc. GM signed a deal to sell Saab to the small Swedish luxury carmaker in August, but the closing of the deal is contingent on Saab receiving loans from the European Investment Bank that are guaranteed by the Swedish government.

In October, the EIB granted Saab a 400 million euro ($600 million) loan -- a key component in the planned sale -- but the Swedish government must step in with a guarantee if the funds are to be paid out.

Saab's new owner, Koenigsegg, founded in 1994 by Christian von Koenigsegg, makes the CCXR, a $1.2-million car that produces 1,018 horsepower, as well as the CCX, which has topped 240 mph. Together, the carmaker and its founder will control nearly two-thirds of Saab, with the rest held by Norwegian and U.S. investors.

The purchase is something of a David and Golaith story: Koenigsegg has just 45 employees, compared with 3,400 at Saab, and Von Koenigsegg, at 37 years old, has no experience running an international manufacturing, marking and distribution business.

A price was not disclosed, although GM said the acquisition would be bolstered by $600 million in financing from the European Investment Bank, backed by the government of Sweden. GM said it would provide additional support to help Koenigsegg take over Saab and complete work on vehicles in development.

GM said it plans to sell or close the Hummer, Saab and Saturn brands by the end of this year, which is faster than an earlier schedule. GM said it planned to build its last Saturn vehicle this year and has no plans to continue Pontiac vehicles like the Solstice and Vibe under different brands.

GM did not have the resources to invest in Pontiac or provide "marketing muscle," Henderson said. The brand will be phased out by 2010.

"It is a tough decision because this is a brand with considerable heritage," he said. "It is an intensely personal decision in many ways, but one that needed to be taken."

Why is the government apparently dead set against helping Saab, an iconic brand that stands as a global symbol of Sweden, with Ikea, Volvo and Abba? That is what Paul Akerlund, the local chairman of the automobile workers' union, wonders. "I'm a little surprised,” he said. "They say the market should help itself, but the market has collapsed around the whole world. It's an extraordinary situation."

He added, with a note of accusation in his voice, "In Germany, France and England, the government is going in to help the car manufacturers." Swedish officials have condemned what they see as protectionism by other European countries that have pledged to prop up their own failing car industries. They have also been scathing about General Motors, Saab's owner, and the last thing they want is to seem to be bailing out a despised foreign company.

Struggling for its own survival, G.M. has said it will completely pull out of Saab by the end of 2009, a course that Ms. Olofsson, the enterprise minister, described as tantamount to declaring "that they wash their hands of Saab and drop it into the laps of the Swedish taxpayers." She said: "We are very disappointed in G.M., but we are not prepared to risk taxpayers' money. This is not a game of Monopoly."

But it was unclear whether the government would step in to help Saab, in which G.M. bought a half interest two decades ago and assumed full ownership in the 1990s. Earlier this week, G.M. said that it wanted to cut Saab loose by 2010, as it tries to restructure in order to qualify for more federal assistance. G.M. said in a report to the Treasury Department that it planned to end financial support for Saab by next year.

Saab went to a Swedish court for protection from its creditors, and said the company would — with assistance from the Swedish government — reorganize to pave the way for private investors to buy all or part of the company. "We explored and will continue to explore all available options for funding and/or selling Saab, and it was determined a formal reorganization would be the best way to create a truly independent entity that is ready for investment," the managing director of Saab, Jan-Ake Jonsson, said in a statement. Saab also said that the company "would continue to operate as usual."

But government assistance is not a certainty. Swedish officials have repeatedly resisted efforts to nationalize Saab, which came to life as part of the Svenska Aeroplan AB, a company founded in 1937 to build military planes. The first Saab cars were built after World War II. G.M. has used the slogan, "Born From Jets" in its recent advertisements for the Swedish brand, although its most recent ad campaign features the tagline, "Move Your Mind."