Ford seeking buyers for Volvo

Ford will begin looking for buyers for Volvo in February. This comes after Ford has been selling its European brands; Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover; Volvo is the last one left. Ford is expecting to draw bids from Chinese car makers, Bloomberg reports this week. An un-named source said sales documents would be sent to prospective buyers in the next couple of weeks. Ford bought Volvo for $US6.4 billion in 1999.

(Taken from The Weekend Australian January 31-February 1 2009 Prestige Motoring)

Will Volvo's exceptional safety standards be compromised with the manufacturing by Chinese car makers. I certainly hope Tata Motors sticks their finger out like they did with Land Rover and Jaguar.

motor1

elduderion - 1/31/2009 11:05:57 PM

+3 Boost

I understand why Ford has to do this, and I think its a pity.

If Ford is not worried about competition from Chinese manufacturers because their crash ratings suck, wait until they get crash know-how from Volvo!

cococo - 2/1/2009 4:04:39 AM

-3 Boost

I'll give them a dollar for Volvo.

Auto_Doc_1 - 2/1/2009 8:18:44 AM

+3 Boost

Improving crash rating is the least of the technical challenges facing any auto manufacturer. It is a matter of proper structural engineering. There are computer software's now available to accurately predict crash test results with exceptional accuracy. The cost of such software (i.e. ABAQUS) is far less than the wage of any entry-level engineer or the price of a crash worthiness certification test. Manufacturers typically will only engineer their vehicles to the structural integrity requirements of the governing regulatory agency policing the relevant market. The crash worthiness requirements in China are less stringent than either the EU or North America largely due to several factors. One of such factors is that the speed limit in China is much lower than in EU and North America. So far no Auto manufacturers in China have designed a vehicle specifically for the EU or North American market from the ground up. There has been no real evidence that any Chinese auto manufacturer is dying to enter the EU or North American market any time soon. Why should they? Due to the tough competition, the actual profit margin of a car is much less in the EU or North America than in China. Unless the Chinese auto manufacturers win their own home turf, it will be pure suicide for them to venture overseas.

woood - 2/1/2009 11:10:52 PM

+2 Boost

Volvo must remain with the swedes. All this buying blurs the brand's image in the long term. British Jaguar=Indian, American Chrysler=Italian, Japanese Nissan=French, and now Swede Volvo=Chinese. Just doesn't feel nor sound right.

DWolff - 2/2/2009 12:02:47 AM

+2 Boost

The world is indeed a messed up place

Jordanski - 2/3/2009 1:05:02 AM

+1 Boost

Maybe Scooby'll buy em out... but Scooby IS partially owned by Lexoyota so that might not work. :[ Then again... Hyundai could use a loophole into the "luxury" market.