GM finally sold its Swedish car brand today. The buyer is a small Dutch luxury car maker called Spyker Cars. The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, put the sale price at $74-million (U.S.).

Cheap for a car company? The fact is that General Motors will keep $326-million worth of preferred shares in Saab. The Swedish government said it will be ready to loan up to 4 billion kronor ($550-million), Industry Minister Maud Olofsson said.

Some say the deal would be a coup for Spyker and a lifeline for Saab which has been a big money hole for GM.

But it’s also a huge challenge for Spyker, which sold only 23 cars in the first half of 2009, its most recent reporting period, and posted a net loss of €8.7-million ($12.25-million). The six-year-old company has yet to make a profit, but it says funding for its operations have been guaranteed through 2010.

-The Globe and Mail

Terms of the deal were not announced, but both Saab and Spyker scheduled news conferences for later today.