Sweden's Saab Automobile and China's Hawtai Motor Group plans for a partnership fell through due to "commercial and economic realities," not failure to get approval from the government, Hawtai said in a statement Friday.

Zhang Ruijun, vice president of Hawtai, said cooperation with Saab still remains as a top priority, and the company is still considering an investment plan.

"Saab needs help, and we strongly believe we are its best partner in this regard," he added.

According to a May 12 statement by Skyper Cars, Saab's owner, the deal fizzled after the proposal failed to get the green light from the Chinese government.

Under a previous agreement reached on May 3, Hawtai planned to invest 150 million euros (US$212 million) for a stake of as much as 29.9 percent in Spyker Cars, easing Saab's cash shortage.

Saab was forced to halt production in April and badly in need of capital to resume production.

The Swedish firm quit talks with its suppliers after the investment plan collapsed.

Because of lack of cash to pay to auto parts suppliers, Skyper said it is also exploring partnership possibilities with other potential investors including Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor and Russian banker Vladimire Antonov.

浙江華泰汽車13日發布"澄清聲明"：華泰汽車與薩博汽車閃電"離婚"的原因，并非政府部門不予審批，而是"商業和經濟因素"。

華泰汽車副總裁張睿君在聲明中還稱，仍將就與荷蘭跑車制造商世爵汽車的合作及薩博汽車的投資方案進行探討，"并將此作為目前的首要工作"。

"薩博汽車需要幫助，而我們堅定地相信我們是其最好的合作伙伴。"

5月12日，華泰和薩博汽車的母公司——世爵汽車同時宣布，終止雙方于5月3日簽署的戰略協議。

根據這一被廢止的協議，世爵汽車原本將從華泰汽車獲得1.5億歐元的投資。

由于無力向供應商支付零部件貨款，薩博汽車4月初被迫停產，目前急需現金來恢復生產。

在投資協議終止后，薩博已擱置了與供應商的談判。

除了華泰，世爵稱，其正與其他中國車企討論合作可能性。長城汽車正在與世爵就潛在合作進行磋商。而俄羅斯商人Vladimir Antonov也表示仍對薩博感興趣。