“There’s a dialogue ongoing", Skyper's chief executive said, bringing hope back that Saab will survive.

Just hours before Spyker's new bid was to expire at 2200 GMT on Monday the sports-car maker said it would extended its offer for the beleaguered Swedish company.

"Spyker has been in contact with GM today and continues to develop its proposal for the purchase of Saab. Spyker has extended the validity of its proposal therefore until further notice," the company said in a statement.

The deadline has been removed, keeping hopes alive that Saab will survive despite its parent General Motors said it would shut it down.

The new deadline came after representatives of GM had been in talks with Spyker in Stockholm on Monday to discuss Spyker's renewed bid.

Victor Muller, Spyker Cars NV chief executive officer, told Bloomberg that General Motors has responded to the revised bid.

“There’s a dialogue ongoing,” Muller said. “It’s very hard to predict the outcome, particularly since GM in principle has taken a decision to shut Saab down.”

The main reasons GM had resumed talks was that the Dutch group had addressed GM's disapproval over Spyker's Russian investors. However, Victor Muller declined to comment whether Spyker's main investors, Vladimir and Alexander Antonov, still had a role in the new bid.

Saab would still seek a 400 million-euro development loan from the European Investment Bank under the new offer, Victor Muller told Bloomberg.

Spyker rose 20 percent Monday on the Amsterdam exchange.