Saab Automobile AB, the Swedish unit that owner General Motors Corp.'s (GM) wants to sell, has not had any discussions with Fiat SpA (FIA) but remains upbeat it will find a buyer by early summer, a Saab spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.

"We're not closing the door" on Fiat, Eric Geers said.

Fiat, after acquiring a stake in Chrysler LLC last week, has said it wants to merge its car unit with GM's European operations, which include Opel and Saab, to create the world's second-largest automaker after Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.TO).

However, Fiat has not yet contacted Saab, Geers said. Fiat is also not among the 10 parties that in recent weeks have visited Saab's main factory in Trollhattan in southwestern Sweden as part of Saab's sales process, he said.

Saab is now working to narrow down the list of potential buyers. "We're going to scale it down to a few - to one or two or three," he said. "That's going to happen this week and next week."

He declined to say how many of the 10 parties that have visited Saab have said they remain interested.

Geers reiterated Saab's goal that it be sold by "early summer." He said that could mean "in June, or maybe the first week in July."

Saab is declining to identify the 10 visitors, but Geers repeated earlier comments they're "a mix of car makers and investors."

"The only other thing we can say about them is that they are very, very interested, they are strong candidates," he said. "We view it very positively."

 
   Company Web site: www.saab.com 
 
   -By Ola Kinnander, Dow Jones Newswires; +46-8-5451-3097; ola.kinnander@dowjones.com