UPDATE 5-GM's Saab wins creditor protection, seeks saviour

* Saab granted protection from creditors by Swedish court

* Saab board says exploring options for funding, sale

* Made 3 bln crown loss in 2008, sees similar in 2009

* Parent GM says won't continue funding losses

(Adds government news conference)

By Veronica Ek and Victoria Klesty

TROLLHATTEN, Sweden, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Loss-making Nordic carmaker Saab's fight for survival moved up a gear on Friday as the General Motors unit won protection from creditors while it tries to find a new partner and raise fresh funds.

GM, itself facing mountainous debts and an uncertain future, refuses to continue funding Saab's losses. In a plan submitted to the U.S. Treasury this week, GM said the Swedish firm would become an independent business as of Jan. 1, 2010..

Saab said it lost about 3 billion crowns ($340 million) in 2008, according to documents filed with the Swedish court that granted the company a stay of execution. It expects a similar loss this year, blaming slack demand, ageing products, overcapacity and high costs.

The company -- which has been making cars in the industrial town of Trollhatten in the southwest of the country since 1949 -- is one of Sweden's best-known brands.

However, it said it needed a rapid restructuring in order to address the level of near-term losses and new funding from either private or public sources to launch more competitive models, and that it had to find a new partner.

Surrounded by new and vintage Saabs in the company's museum showcasing its six decades of car making, Chief Executive Jan-Ake Jonsson said that making Saab increasingly independent of its U.S. parent would help it find external financing.

"Even though we have not been actively searching for new partners, we have had many knocking on our door showing interest in Saab," he told a news conference.

"I am very confident and I think we have a solid basis for solving this financing issue."

STATE AID