I was having a discussion with a friend this week about cars and the subject of Ford's ownership of Volvo came up. He was convinced that it was the worst possible thing and says that he would never have a "Ford/Volvo." Actually, he has never owned a Volvo that I know of.

I have owned Volvos since 1987 with very few years off, all 240s except for my current S80 that I bought new in November of 2002. While I loved the 240s while I had them and they gave outstanding service, I have to say that the S80 is a much more comfortable and refined car and has not had a more serious problem than a loose battery cable since I have owned it. Of course, it should be nicer than the 240 since it cost almost 3X what my '87 240 did new.

Does anyone have any factual examples of the degredation of Volvo with the Ford acquisition? How much of our cars is really Ford?

Thanks for your comments!

 

I do not have factual info as to Ford's influence over Volvo. All I know is that Volvo & other makes are referred to as "PAG: Premium Auto Group". Ford recently gave up Jaguar and gave it to Tata-India.

This is only my research result, that Volvo is required to have a presentation at Ford and has to get permission before they can put a car on production. Again, I do not have a solid back-up info so this may or may not be true.

One should look at each component to tell how much influence Ford actually has in Volvo's quality. If Ford has a say in Volvo's manufacturing, you would see parts that are stamped with "Motorcraft" logo. I believe Volvo are still loaded with genuine Volvo, Bosch and Aisin parts.


JPN

 

What I would like to know is if Ford got any ideas from Volvo. They claim the Fusion has a more European feel than some of the other Fords, although maybe it's just from Ford Europe (I heard similar things about the Contour).

I think where folks are wondering about the quality is in the reliability surveys given by Consumer Reports and other magazines. I remember the first year S80 being way below average while the 850 was getting excellent marks. A lot of people who look at those ratings were thinking Ford had something to do with it (there were a ton of unreliable Fords in the 1990s--I know many who can speak from experience) although it may have just been that it was a new model that, in my opinion, seemed rushed to production.

 

I agree with what you are saying Scott. There is no way Ford could have had much influence over the 99 S80 since the car was practically on the assembly line when Ford bought the company. So I guess we are saying Volvo screwed it up all by themselves. Which is probably why they sold the company in the first place. They were probably getting ready to go under without an influx of funds which Ford provided.

I have heard that Ford was influencing Volvo in the first couple years, but backed off and Ford actually was going to Volvo for suggestions on designing the newer Fords. I think Ford does influence the design and manufacturing of the SUV's with the Volvo name on them though, but I've alwaysliked Ford's trucks.

 

I owned a fusion for a year, and by no means did it do european cars justice, great car but not european. What ford wanted out of the fusion was a car that has a different "euro" look to it, but by european standards as far as performance and craftability, its just a decently made ford...no more no less..

 

One thing I did notice abt Ford...and its mercury Milan which has an Inline 4 among other engine choices...seem they copied that idea from Volvo

 

BNE the Milan has some what of a similarity with the facia of the Volvo look the placement of the Grill & lights the body although a lil boxy has a Volvo"ish" look to it. Made me wonder when i first saw it.