Saab production back on the road as suppliers reach a deal

Swedish car maker Saab said on Friday it had reached a deal with one of its key suppliers and that production would soon be back to normal following a string of stoppages at its Swedish manufacturing plant.

Saab was forced to stop production for a third day running on Thursday due to a dispute over payments with International Automotive Components Group (IAC), which supplies dashboards and other interior components.

"We have solved all the issues with IAC," said spokesman Eric Geers. "There was an agreement yesterday evening so this morning the plan is to ASAP get going on production."

IAC had stopped deliveries due to the dispute. Saab was also forced to halt production earlier this week due to another payment dispute with transport company Schenker.

Geers said Saab hoped to get back to its more than 200-car-a-day production capacity as soon as possible.

Saab's Netherlands-based owner, Spyker, has sought to reassure investors that it has enough funds at hand to run Saab.

Sweden's Debt Office, which guaranteed a 400 million EIB loan to Saab and has a say in ownership changes, is considering an application by Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov to take a stake in the loss-making car maker.

Antonov was forced out of the original deal for Dutch carmaker Spyker to buy Saab from GM after media reports of links to organised crime.

He has said he has cleared his name and that GM is ready to have him back in the agreement.