General Motors is still going ahead with its wind-down of Saab after its chief executive Ed Whitacre said he had little hope a deal could be made in time to save it.

Dutch sports car maker Spyker was given until today to revise its bid for Saab but Whitacre told reporters at the company’s Detroit headquarters that no bids had the financial backing necessary to buy Saab.

Whitacre said: "I think we've done everything humanly possible.”

Dropping Saab would eliminate 3,400 jobs in Sweden and hit 1,100 Saab dealers globally.