General Motors Co. and Dutch sports car maker Spyker Cars NV could agree as early as today on a deal to buy GM’s Saab Automobile AB unit, according to multiple media reports.

GM met with Spyker in Stockholm on Friday, the reports say. They add that GM is satisfied with the financial aspects of Spyker’s offer: €53 million in cash, €230 million worth of preferred shares in the new company and €71 million of Saab’s existing liquidity.

But GM is demanding that Spyker sever its relationship with Russian banker Vladimir Antonov, CEO of Convers Group and a 30% owner of Spyker. Saab also has yet to secure a €400 million loan from the European Investment Bank, although the Swedish government has offered to guarantee the loan.

While these issues appear unresolved, Spyker reportedly has outmaneuvered Genii Capital of Luxembourg, which teamed with Formula One impresario Bernie Ecclestone to launch a late counterbid for Saab last month. Genii tells Bloomberg, “We have worked hard; unfortunately, time was not on our side.”

Saab’s future has been in doubt since November, when Swedish sports car maker Koenigsegg AB abruptly ended its bid to buy the company. GM rejected Spyker’s initial bid and set a 7 January deadline to sell or shut down Saab. But the American company continued to consider new bids even after hiring a U.S. company to begin winding down Saab.

Volkswagen AG estimates that total global sales of cars from now through 2018 will be 67 million lower than its earlier forecast, says Automobilwoche.

The German newspaper cites a letter presented to VW’s executive board by Detlef Wittig, the previous executive vice president of VW group sales and marketing who became head of international investment projects for the group at the beginning of January.

Wittig’s letter says the reduced sales figure is the equivalent of an entire calendar year of sales for the global market from previous volumes.

Confidence among French factory managers jumped to 92 in January from 88 in December, according to the monthly index from the country’s Insee statistics office.

The upbeat index follows the finance ministry’s forecast last week that France’s economy will grow 1.4% this year. The country’s gross domestic product expanded by 0.3% in the second and third quarters of 2009.

Insee says manufacturers believe business will “significantly” improve. Insee also notes that inventories are low, and that both domestic and foreign orders are growing—an indication of increasing factory activity ahead.

But the service cautions that domestic and foreign orders remain low by historical standards. It also points out that the executives it polled are more optimistic about France’s economy than their own companies’ production plans over the next two months.

December car and commercial truck production in the U.K. surged to 93,000 units from 63,700 a year earlier, but full-year output was 31% below 2008, reports the country’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

But the SMMT warns that this year will be an “extremely challenging” market for British carmakers.

The British auto industry produced 1.1 million vehicles last year. Car output fell 31% to 999,000, and commercial vehicle production plummeted 55% to 91,000 units.

U.K. vehicle makers cut production sharply in the first half of 2008 to adjust inventories. But production began to stabilize after the British government introduced a scrappage incentive in mid-May.

The SMMT says the U.K. built 2.1 million engines last year, the first year for which it reported engine production data. More than 74% of the vehicles receiving those engines were exported.

Fiat SpA confirms it has created a new car group to oversee its Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Abarth brands and named Harald Wester, Fiat’s 51-year-old chief technical officer, to run it. Automotive News Europe first reported the plan last Thursday.

Wester replaces Sergio Cravero, who has been reassigned to run Fiat’s product planning. Wester retains his current positions as chief technical officer and CEO of Maserati and Abarth.

Wester’s most immediate challenge will be to fix Alfa, which reportedly has been losing €200- €400 million per year for a decade. Reports say the unit currently must sell about 300,000 units to break even. Last year, the brand’s sales in Europe were 111,000 cars, up 8% from the previous year but down sharply from the 203,000 units it sold in 2000, according to ACEA, the European carmaker association.

In April, Wester must present a five-year strategic plan for Alfa. ANE says the company is considering two scenarios: Reduce Alfa to a two-model, Europe-only brand or add two new models that ride on Chrysler Group platforms and market the brand in both Europe and North America. Fiat owns 20% of Chrysler and has management control of the American company.

Wester joined Volkswagen AG in 1991 as general manager of vehicle research. He later became program manager for the Audi A2 and was subsequently put in charge of product development at Ferrari. He joined Austrian contract assembler Magna Steyr in 2002 and Fiat in 2004.

Alfredo Altavilla, CEO of Fiat Powertrain Technologies, appears a likely candidate to succeed Sergio Marchionne as Fiat SpA’s next chief, says Bloomberg News.

Altavilla, 46, is helping Chrysler LLC launch production of Fiat’s fuel-efficient 1.4-liter engine in a factory near Detroit. The engine will power the Fiat 500 small car, the first Fiat brand car to be sold in the U.S. since 1983. A successful launch will propel Altavilla’s chances of succeeding Marchionne, according to the news service.

Last spring the Italian daily La Republica speculated that Altavilla was a likely candidate to run Chrysler after the American company’s turnaround is well underway. Fiat owns 20% of Chrysler, and Altavilla is a member of Chrysler’s board of directors.

Marchionne has not revealed his succession plans except to say that Chrysler and Fiat each will need its own leader by 2012. Bloomberg cites unidentified sources who say the 57-year-old Marchionne will stay on as Chrysler’s CEO at least until the U.S. company launches an initial public offering. Marchionne has said an IPO won’t happen until 2011.

Altavilla joined Fiat in 1990 to run product development and international ventures, eventually rising to the post of senior vice president of business development. He has handled assignments in China and India, and he has helped run a joint venture with General Motors Co. to supply engines for Opel and Saab.

In Turkey, Altavilla oversaw production of a commercial van developed with PSA Peugeot Citroen. In Russia, he helped manage Fiat’s car production venture with Severstal. He also has managed a venture to produce the Ford Ka in Poland and diesel engines with Suzuki.

General Motors Co. says it expects its vehicle sales in China to reach about 2 million units this year—a goal it did not expect to reach until at least 2012, reports Bloomberg News.

GM’s sales in China totaled 1.83 million last year, up 67% from 2008. About 65% of its total volume is in pickup trucks and small vans, led by the best-selling Sunshine minivan produced by its three-way SAIC-GM Wuling Automobile Co. venture.

Johnson Controls Inc. reported a record net income of €248 million for its fiscal first quarter ended 31 December, reversing a €430 million loss for the same period a year ago. Revenue grew 13.5% to €5.9 billion.

The American-based supplier of seats, interior systems and auto batteries attributes its success to the impact of cost-cutting efforts last year and market share gains in North America, China and Europe.

JCI’s automotive unit says its sales jumped 31% to €2.9 billion. Battery sales rose 15% to €920 million. Both units reported large losses for the same quarter last year.

The company raised its full-year forecast. It now expects its sales to grow 16% to more than €23 billion, up about €1 billion from its previous projection. It also expects earnings per share to be between $1.70 and 1.75 (about €1.2), up 21%-25% above its previous forecast.

JCI says it expects car and light-truck production in North America will be 10.3 million units this year—about 500,000 units higher than it projected earlier.

Volkswagen AG plans to export 55,000 Polo superminis from South Africa this year, doubling its volume of 28,000 units last year.

The redesigned Polo is produced at VW’s Uitenhage plant, which supplies all five-door Polos with right-hand drive. South Africa’s Engineering News says VW has already spent €326 million to upgrade the plant and plans to invest another €47 million this year.