Saying that it couldn't nail down a deal to sell the Swedish car maker, General Motors announced this morning that it "will start an orderly wind-down of Saab operations."

GM had tried to sell Saab to Swedish car maker Koenigsegg Group, but that deal fell through. Talks with Denmark's Spyker Cars ultimately went nowhere.

According to the Detroit News, the shut down "affects about 3,400 employees globally and 1,100 dealers — including about 218 in the United States."

As Bloomberg News writes:

GM bought half of Saab in 1990 and took full ownership in 2000. U.S. sales of Saab models tumbled 61% through this year's first 11 months, and the biggest U.S. automaker identified the brand as one of four — along with Saturn, Pontiac and Hummer — it would shed to streamline operations.

The Wall Street Journal adds that:

Saab, like other GM divisions, fell into financial turmoil earlier this year as a global slowdown in the auto industry aggravated its existing balance-sheet problems. The Swedish unit filed for protection from its creditors in February, exiting in the summer after reaching an agreement with creditors to write off about 75% of its debt.