Judge Sides With GM, Dismisses Spyker Lawsuit

A federal judge has dismissed a $3 billion lawsuit filed by Dutch car maker Spyker against General Motors Co. Spyker sued GM last August, accusing it of unfairly blocking a deal to let a Chinese buyer take over Swedish carmaker Saab. GM sold Saab to Spyker in 2010.

Jun 11th, 2013

Dee-Ann Durbin, AP Auto Writer

DETROIT (AP) -- A federal judge has dismissed a $3 billion lawsuit filed by Dutch car maker Spyker against General Motors Co.

Spyker sued GM last August, accusing it of unfairly blocking a deal to let a Chinese buyer take over Swedish carmaker Saab.

GM sold Saab to Spyker in 2010. Saab filed for bankruptcy protection less than a year later after GM blocked its sale to a Chinese automaker.

GM asked U.S. Judge Gershwin Drain to dismiss the suit, saying it had the right to protect its intellectual property. Spyker argued that the deals didn't involve GM's proprietary technology.

Drain sided with GM and dismissed the lawsuit Monday.

Saab's assets were bought out of bankruptcy by National Electric Vehicle Sweden, a Swedish company with Chinese financial backers that is developing electric cars.