NEW YORK - General Motors Co. said Friday it will unwind Saab after talks to sell the brand to Dutch carmaker Spyker Cars collapsed.

General Motors said in a news release that issues arise during the sale talks that cannot be resolved.

"Despite the best efforts of all involved, it has become very clear that the due diligence required to complete this complex transaction cannot be executed in a reasonable time," General Motors Europe President Nick Reilly said in a statement. "In order to maintain operations, Saab needed a quick resolution."

General Motors was scheduled to provide more details in a conference call with reporters Friday morning. The Detroit automaker said it will go on to honor Saab customer warranties.

General Motors first sought a buyer for Saab in January as part of its restructuring, which included plans to downsize its brands to four from eight. It was previously in talks to sell Saab to a consortium led by the Swedish sports car maker Koenigsegg Group AB, but it turned to Spyker after Koenigsegg withdrew from the talks in November.

Speculation has since been rampant on the future of Saab. Earlier this week, General Motors Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre told reporters he had "a sense it is possible" that the sale to Spyker would go through, but conceded the brand will close by the end of the year if the talks fell apart.

On Monday, China's Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings - originally part of the Koenigsegg consortium - announced it had decided to buy some powertrain technology from Saab. It gave no information about costs or timing of that purchase.