General Motors Co. confirmed yesterday that is has reached a binding agreement to sell its Saab Automobile subsidiary to Dutch sports car maker Spyker Cars NV for €284 million in cash and stock. The Swedish government, which is reviewing the deal, says the sale could be completed as early as mid-February.

Spyker confirms it will pay GM €53 million in cash, plus €232 million worth of preferred stock in a new company, Saab Spyker Automobiles, created out of Saab’s estimated €1 billion in assets.

The Swedish government has agreed to guarantee a €400 million loan from the European Investment Bank. Spyker Chairman Vladimir Antonov, a Russian banker who holds 30% of the company’s stock, will sever his ties to the company—a stipulation demanded by GM, according to media reports.

Spyker aims to produce at least 100,000 Saab models annually in the “not too distant future,” thus ensuring Saab’s profitability. The company says it will unveil Saab’s next-generation 9-5 sedan on 15 April.

GM had been trying to sell Saab throughout 2009 but announced at the end of the year it would begin liquidating the company unless it found a qualified buyer. A first round of negotiations with Spyker collapsed late last month. GM sold technology and tooling for Saab’s current-generation 9-3 and 9-5 sedans to Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. for €192 million in December. This month it hired AlixPartners LLP, a Detroit-area turnaround firm, to begin winding down the company.

The International Monetary Fund says fast-growing emerging economies will help the world economy expand by 3.9% this year, up from the 3.1% growth it forecast in October.

Last year’s global economy contracted by 0.8%, including 3.9% shrinkage for Europe’s gross domestic product. The IMF says the European economy will grow only 1% this year, including 1.5% for Germany, 1.4% for France, 1% for Italy and 1.3% for the U.K. Spain’s economy is expected to shrink by 0.6% this year.

The IMF predicts the economies of the U.S. and Japan will grow by 2.7% and 1.7%, respectively, this year. It says China’s GDP will jump 10%, and India’s economy will expand by 7.7%.

Fiat SpA says it will shut down its five Italian assembly plants between 22 February and 7 March because January sales fell below depressed year-ago levels.

CEO Sergio Marchionne also says Fiat may delay the introduction of some models until 2011 because launching them now would be “wasted” in a weak market. He did not indicate which products might be delayed.

Analysts say Fiat’s announcements are intended to pressure Italy’s government to reinstate the country’s €1,500-per-car scrappage incentive that ended in December. Marchionne has urged the government to reinstate incentives and phase them out slowly over two years. The government is scheduled to meet on Friday to consider an extension.

Marchionne has estimated that Europe’s car market will shrink by 12% this year with incentives—and 16% without them.

Talks about an equity swap between PSA Peugeot Citroen and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. are snagged over the relative market values of the two companies, reports Les Echos.

The French newspaper says the Peugeot family, which owns 30.3% of PSA, is worried about losing control of its own company or paying too much for a controlling stake in MMC.

Japanese media have speculated that MMC might issue shares worth €1.5 billion to €2.3 billion for PSA to buy, thus gaining 30%-50% ownership of the Japanese carmaker.

But it won’t be easy for PSA to raise those funds. The French automaker’s bond rating is below investment grade, and it already carries €2 billion in net debt. PSA could issue its own new shares to fund the acquisition, but that would reduce the Peugeot family’s holdings to 25%—a deal they have said they won’t accept.

Les Echos says PSA CEO Philippe Varin is preparing investors for a possible failure of the talks. PSA tells Agence France Presse that negotiations continue. An unnamed MMC source notes that the two companies could instead agree to expand one of their existing ventures. Mitsubishi and PSA have joint ventures to produce electric cars and launch an assembly plant in Russia.

Toyota Motor Corp. and its Daihatsu and Hino affiliates expect to sell 8.3 million vehicles in 2010, up 6% from the total in 2009, in spite of an expected sales downturn in Europe caused by waning government scrappage incentives.

Last year the group’s sales fell 13% to 7.8 million vehicles. For 2010, Toyota predicts that sales of its Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands will grow 6% to 7.4 million vehicles. It projects demand for Daihatsu minicars will increase 3% to 770,000 units, and sales of Hino commercial vehicles will jump 24% to 100,000 units.

Toyota anticipates growth in all major markets except Europe, where it says demand will probably fall 5% to 840,000 units. The company predicts that Toyota/Lexus sales in Japan will grow 9% to 1.5 million this year, aided by a six-month extension through September of the government’s scrappage incentive program. It anticipates sales in China will surge 13% to 800,000 vehicles, and demand in North America will jump 11% to 2.2 million cars and trucks.

The stronger sales this year are expected to come too late to prevent Toyota from posting an estimated operating loss of about €2.8 billion for the fiscal year ending 31 March.

Four U.S. hedge fund managers claim Porsche SE improperly hid its effort in 2008 to acquire Volkswagen AG, causing them to lose more than $1 billion (€710 million). They have sued the German company in a New York City federal court to recover their losses.

Other VW investors may join the lawsuit, which could raise the value of the claim to $10 billion.

The plaintiffs represent “short sellers” who borrow stock, immediately sell it and hope to buy it back later at a lower price, collecting the difference as profit. But in October 2008, VW’s stock soared after Porsche announced it had amassed 75% of the company’s stock. The hedge funds, which had bet on VW shares declining, suffered massive losses.

The four funds—Elliott Associates, Glenhill Capital Management, Glenview Capital Management and Perry Capital—claim that former Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and Holger Harter, former vice president of finance, lied about their intentions to take over VW.

The complaint also says Porsche released billions of euros worth of shares, generating “outrageous profits” while maintaining the bulk of its controlling stake in VW. Porsche insists it did nothing wrong.

In December, an internal Porsche investigation concluded that Wiedeking and Harter were not guilty of wrongdoing. Last year Bafin, Germany’s financial market monitor, launched its own investigation into possible stock price manipulation.

Porsche gradually raised its stake in VW from 2005 to 2008, and as VW’s stock price rose, the company briefly became the world’s most valuable company. But after the stock market crash of September 2008, the attempted takeover collapsed. Deeply in debt, Porsche agreed last year to be acquired by VW in a deal that will be completed in 2011.

Toyota Motor Corp. says is temporarily halting U.S. sales of eight models involved in a 2.3-million-vehicle recall to fix accelerator pedals that can jam in the open position.

Affected Toyota brand vehicles include the Avalon, Camry, Corolla and Matrix cars, Tundra pickup truck and RAV4, Highlander and Sequoia SUVs.

Toyota also says it is suspending production of those vehicles for the week of 1 February at North American plants in Indiana, Kentucky, Texas and Canada.

Toyota told Bloomberg News on Monday that it might recall cars in Europe too. Media reports have estimated that as many as 2 million vehicles could be involved in such a campaign.

The company, which announced the recall last week, blames the problem on wear but says it has not yet decided how to fix the pedal. The campaign is not related to a U.S. recall begun last fall of 4.3 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles to fix a floor mat problem that could jam the accelerator pedal and prevent it from returning to idle when released. About 1.7 million vehicles included in this month’s recall also are a part of last year’s campaign.

General Motors Co. says it will spend €175 million to prepare a U.S. transmission plant in Maryland to make electric motors for EVs and hybrids. Production is to begin in 2013.

The motors will be used in GM’s “two-mode” hybrid system, which is designed to improve fuel economy at highway speeds in addition to city driving. The company currently buys such motors from outside suppliers. Describing electric motors as the “engines of the future,” GM says it wants to exert more control over costs, quality, reliability, operating efficiency and manufacturability.

GM made its own electric motors for its discontinued EV1 electric vehicle a decade ago and says it has been developing a next-generation motor since 2003. It plans to use the new motor in large pickup trucks initially but anticipates it eventually being used in cars and EVs.

Adam Opel GmbH and its union will resume negotiations on Monday about the company’s plan to eliminate 8,300 jobs.

The union had suspended discussions after the General Motors Co. unit announced widely expected plans to close its assembly plant in Antwerp, Belgium. Opel says its turnaround plan needs annual personnel savings of €265 million over the next five years and as much as €2.7 billion in loans from European governments. GM has already committed €650 million to Opel.

On Friday Opel will make a formal request to Germany for aid. Without additional financing, CEO Nick Reilly says Opel has enough money to operate “well into the second quarter.”