STOCKHOLM, Dec 1, 2009 (AFP) - US carmaker General Motors is seeking a new owner for its loss-making Swedish brand Saab after a previous takeover bid failed last week, Saab Automobile's chief executive said on Tuesday.

'I, the (Swedish) government and GM are all working very hard to find an alternative,' Saab chief executive Jan-Aake Jonsson told Swedish news agency TT after a meeting between the three parties in Detroit on Monday.

GM was to hold a board meeting on Tuesday to discuss its plans for Saab after Swedish niche sportscar maker Koenigsegg withdrew its bid for the iconic brand on November 24.

If no other suitor turns up, GM could either choose to hold on to Saab or shut it down.

'There is still hope for Saab,' Swedish state secretary at the enterprise ministry, Joeran Haegglund, told TT, adding: 'We had good talks' with GM.

'We've described in detail what we have in the Swedish toolbox,' he said, referring to state guarantees Sweden is willing to offer for a Saab loan and public financing for auto industry research and development.

The European Investment Bank has granted Saab a 400-million-euro (832-million-Singapore-dollar) loan, but the Swedish state must guarantee the loan and the European Commission must still approve it.

Haegglund repeated however that the Swedish state would not take a stake in Saab.

He also said he planned to hold talks in Detroit with various parties interested in acquiring Saab, but would not disclose any names.

'We will comment on this in due time,' he said.

Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet on Tuesday identified three of the interested parties as US investment firm Merbanco, China's Beijing Automotive (BAIC) - which had linked up with Koenigsegg to take over Saab and which has said it is 'reassesssing' its options - and US holding company Renco Group.

The newspaper also said there was a fourth, unnamed group.

'It's an international group with several countries represented. But not Sweden,' a source close to the Saab dossier told the daily.