Saab has filed for bankruptcy after former owner General Motors blocked moves by the ailing Swedish car company to secure funding from potential Chinese investors.

Victor Muller, chief executive of Netherlands-based group Swedish Automobile, which owns Saab, submitted the application in person, the Vanersborg District Court said.

A cash crisis saw Saab suspend production in March after it failed to pay suppliers. It has only occasionally restarted assembly lines since then.

It has delayed wages several times and has yet to give workers pay that was due at the end of November. The company had been shielded from its creditors under a Swedish legal arrangement designed to give it time to secure rescue funding.

However, the court today said any realistic hope of a deal had gone.

Swedish Automobile said that the court is expected to approve the filing and appoint receivers for Saab very shortly.

Saab has seen its share prices tumble recently. Saab had been in talks with a Chinese bank about investment to allow it to continue, however, no deal could go ahead without the agreement of GM which still retains part of the group as well as many of its technology licences.

A series of deals were put in place to rescue Saab, but General Motors said no deal could go ahead.

GM, which operates in China in a partnership with state-run SAIC Motor Corp Ltd, said in November continuing to supply parts and technology to Saab's new owners would run counter to the interest of its own shareholders.

Saab had suspended work at its main plant in Trollhattan, Sweden, since April.

Earlier this month, the carmaker's administrator called for an end to creditor protection saying that the company had run out of money.

Saab presented its first prototype in 1947 after moving out of aeronautical engineering and built a small, loyal following.

A separate Saab defence and security company still exists.

General Motors bought 50 per cent of the car company in 1989 and the rest in 2000.

It decided to sell the brand in 2009 after the financial crisis and came close to closing it before Swedish Automobile, then called Spyker Cars, bought Saab in January 2010.

High-end Saabs such as the 9-3 convertible and 9-5 saloon cost around £33,000.

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