A Swedish appeals court tossed a lifeline Wednesday to cash-strapped car maker Saab, approving its application for bankruptcy protection as it awaits funding from Chinese investors.

The ruling by the Court of Appeal for Western Sweden, overturning a lower court's decision, gives Saab three months to reorganize while being protected from creditors, some of whom have already filed bankruptcy petitions against the company.

Saab has struggled financially since General Motors Co. sold it in 2010 to the Netherlands-based company that is now called Swedish Automobile. Production at Saab's manufacturing plant has been suspended for most of the year while the company has struggled to pay suppliers and staff.

But chief executive Victor Muller insists he can turn the company around as soon as it receives euro245 million ($335 million) in cash injections from Chinese investors Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co. and Pang Da Automobile Trade Co.