BEIJING (AFP) - China's Beijing Automotive Industry Holding (BAIC) told state media it will "reassess" its options after a plan to buy Swedish carmaker Saab collapsed, but gave no hint of its plans.

Swedish luxury carmaker Koenigsegg said Tuesday it was abandoning plans to join forces with BAIC to buy Saab from its US parent General Motors due to costly delays, plunging Saab's future into doubt.

"It has always been an important strategy of BAIC to go international," BAIC said Wednesday in a statement quoted by Chinese web portal Sina.com.

"Given the pullout of Koenigsegg, we will reassess this project in a prudent manner and make proper arrangements," the statement said.

It gave no further indication of its plans, according to Sina.com.

BAIC referred AFP to the state press reports when contacted for a direct comment.

Koenigsegg had needed a 600-million-dollar loan from the European Investment Bank and wanted the Swedish government to act as a guarantor, but the request was refused.

Koenigsegg announced its plan to acquire Saab in June, and the deal was originally expected to be concluded by the end of October but was repeatedly delayed.

BAIC, founded in 1958, is China's fifth-largest automaker and already has joint ventures with Daimler and South Korea's Hyundai.

It had also attempted to buy Opel, another European unit of GM, but announced in July that it failed to reach an agreement with the US company due to intellectual property rights concerns.