The number two American automaker, Ford is preparing to sell Volvo, the Swedish car group that has been bought 8 years ago. Volvo represents the flagship of Ford’s Premier Automotive Group (PAG), stable of luxury European marques and this maybe the reason for Ford to ask for an astronomical price: $8 billion dollars.
more details here: 4wheelsblog.com

 

D@mn, I am a bit shy of $8 billion in my bank account[8D].


JPN

 

Hopefully-This will not be the end of Volvo.

 

ford makes the worst cars ever, i am ashamed to say that volvo and ford have something to do with eachother, i think volvo will be a lot better if its on its own again

 

it would be funny if bmw bought them!

Safety along with Performance..

Inoticed a ford delearship that closed down, so im guessin alot of ford delearships closed? to compensate they have to sell Volvo?

Im guessing Ford is gonna be hurt from this in the long run!

 

I think the sale would be best for Volvo as well. I'm glad our 850 is pre Ford ownership. I've heard a lot about Volvo's with gremlins post Ford ownership. Too much cost cutting and committee designing. Get back to the heart and soul of cars.

It'll be a good thing if someone who cares about cars buys Volvo.

 

Ford is not going to sell Volvo. They are selling the Jag brand. The Ford 500 is built on the Volvo XC90 chassis. You can bet your last dollar that Volvo will remain connected with Ford. It is a good marriage of two auto companies.

r.

 

That would be GM and Chrysler. Ford is decent.

 

wait so volvo isnt being sold?

 

My understanding is that Ford is not divesting themselves of Volvo. Volvo is making money for Ford and Ford is happy with the Volvo/Mazda platform sharing of the two small autos and the Volvo xc90/Ford 500 platform sharing is proving beneficial.

r.

 

Possible buyers I have read about are Hyandai (sp?), BMW, GM, Renault and Volvo Penta the truck part of Volvo. I would hate BMW to buy them. They would never let the Volvo's outperform the BMW. Volvo Penta would be my choice, so they would go back to being Volvo's. Ford has denied that it is up for sale though at one point.

 

I would bet it's up for sale, ford are going through a global restructure,
they have laid off hundreds(400) of workers at their Geelong Engine building plant in Victoria, Australia...they are struggling with outdated designs, and outdated engine technology, only makes sense to sell to invest in technology. Players like Hyundai have really hit them hard..

v70 2.4t

 

It is never pleasant to hear people getting laid off, no matter what part of the world. Been there & done that myelf...... I personally feel that the first place to "restructure" a company's financial standing is the executives' salaries[8D]. Anyway, I hope those who were laid off can quickly divert to Toyota, Hyundai or whoever has plants in Australia (I believe Mitsubishi does too?).

As to Ford, I used to work on 3 Ford trucks at work in Chicago (they were used at O'Hare airport on the ramp). All of them were neglected, abused and DVed. They were in miserable shape. However, after I volunteered my free time and fixed here & there, they came back to life and since then they were running great. The trucks, by the way, were:

1. 1992 Aerostar V6
2. 1992 F-350 Custom V8
3. 1994 F-150 XL L6

These vehicles were really durable, but if people trash them, they fall apart prematurely. I think it's universal.

Anyway, here's my personal opinion. Ford should:

1. Forget SUVs.
2. Choose parts suppliers that make high-quality products (especially on electrical & interior parts).
3. Learn from the competitors (buy their cars & take them apart); many are going "efficiency" and "environmentally friendly"lately.
4. Better rust proofings, please.
5. Take good care of the employees. The old adage, "You get what you pay for" applies to human resources as well. Who would want to work hard, if they are treated like $hit? And if the employees are always worried about getting laid off, how could they concentrate on their jobs?

One thing I always wondered about American mfgs is that there are way too many options for engines. I wonder who would need to decideamong 3.5L V8, 4.0L V8 and 5.0L V8. I think they can cut costs by reducing the number of engine options.

Well that was my soap box of the day.


JPN

 

I just hope that it's not sold to Hyundai or GM.

 

if BMW bought them, itd be an interesting Twist on Safety

 

Let's hope Saab buys it.


JPN

 

From what I hear Volvo AB would most likely buy them back. Ford has a lot to lose by selling Volvo. Not only do they share parts and platforms, Ford sold their test track for housing development and now shares Volvos proving grounds, the test track, in Arizona. And about ford engines in Volvos, only the new b8444s (V8) has involvment with Ford to the best of my knowledge, and as said before, it is made by Yamaha.

Yes, Volvo uses Fomoco parts. But it is cheaper for both companies to share parts.

I dont see Ford selling Volvo anytime in the near future and if they did I would assume Volvo AB would buy them back.

 

All I wanna know about the whole thing is will Ford take a check? lmao

 

S$%^ me too...lol

 

Isn't Saab partially owned by GM?