Formula One tycoon Bernie Ecclestone joins race to save Saab from the scrapheap

The ailing company was put up for sale a year ago by owner General Motors as part of a major restructuring operation, but a buyer has not been forthcoming.

With the deadline for bids now passed, the United States car giant has begun the process of closing down Saab but said it would continue its efforts to find a buyer.

Detroit-based GM said it had signed up AlixPartners, a restructuring group, to oversee an "orderly wind down" of the company, which it expected to take "several months".But it confirmed it had received "several proposals" that it was continuing to evaluate.

Mr Ecclestone said yesterday that Saab was a "good" company that may have been wrongly handled.

"It's a good brand that has probably been neglected by the current owners," he said. "We don't own it yet, so let's see what happens."

The billionaire has teamed up with Luxembourg-based investment company Genii Capital, which recently acquired a large stake in Renault's Formula One racing team.

In a statement, the group said it had been brought into the bidding process at a late stage and that it was interested in acquiring a majority stake in the brand.

"The group believes that Saab has a tremendous brand value in a number of key markets," it said, adding that, considering the short timeframe, it "will aggressively work towards a successful closing of the transaction".

It did not disclose any financial details but said it believed in Saab's potential as the car industry moves into greener and safer technology.

The extent of Mr Ecclestone's involvement in the bid has not been revealed, but the 79-year-old is reportedly worth about 2.3 billion.

An offer for Saab has also come in from Dutch bespoke car maker Spyker. "We believe the Saab brand has lots of potential and would be keen to close a deal as quickly as possible," its chief executive, Victor Muller, said.

Unconfirmed reports in Sweden suggest a third bid has been made by a consortium of the nation's business leaders.

GM's interim chief executive, Ed Whitacre, said earlier this week he was not confident that a deal could be reached.

He said: "It's real easy. Just show up with the money and you can have it. Nobody's come with the money, so we're in the wind-down deal here."

The US car-making giant has been trying to sell 62-year-old Saab since January last year and increased the efforts after falling into bankruptcy last year.

GM is aiming to concentrate on its own core brands, such as Chevrolet.

Saab, which employs 3,400 people in Sweden, made a loss of 255 million in 2008, and has not registered a profit since 2001.

IF Metall, the Swedish union that is represented on Saab's board, criticised GM's decision to start the liquidation process while still looking for a buyer. Its leader, Stefan Loefven, described that as "irresponsible".