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.

浙江华泰汽车13日发布"澄清声明"：华泰汽车与萨博汽车闪电"离婚"的原因，并非政府部门不予审批，而是"商业和经济因素"。

华泰汽车副总裁张睿君在声明中还称，仍将就与荷兰跑车制造商世爵汽车的合作及萨博汽车的投资方案进行探讨，"并将此作为目前的首要工作"。

"萨博汽车需要帮助，而我们坚定地相信我们是其最好的合作伙伴。"

5月12日，华泰和萨博汽车的母公司——世爵汽车同时宣布，终止双方于5月3日签署的战略协议。

根据这一被废止的协议，世爵汽车原本将从华泰汽车获得1.5亿欧元的投资。

由于无力向供应商支付零部件货款，萨博汽车4月初被迫停产，目前急需现金来恢复生产。

在投资协议终止后，萨博已搁置了与供应商的谈判。

除了华泰，世爵称，其正与其他中国车企讨论合作可能性。长城汽车正在与世爵就潜在合作进行磋商。而俄罗斯商人Vladimir Antonov也表示仍对萨博感兴趣。