According to the Goteborgs Posten, a Swedish newspaper, Ford is thinking about selling Volvo. Ford who has been in financial distress the past few years lost $327 million from their luxury nameplates, which includes Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln and Volvo (Ford does not disclose the revenue totals for each of its luxury brands).
In order to raise revenue, Ford may be interested in selling Volvo, which the automaker acquired in 1999. According to a Merrill Lynch, Ford could raise as much as $9 billion if the automaker were to sell its remaining luxury brands. Apparently if Ford does decide to sell Volvo, BMW may be interested. The Financial Times has reported that BMW has been in informal discussions about possibly acquiring Volvo.
Should Ford sell Volvo? What about Jaguar or Land Rover?
Full Story: Automotive News
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Comments (5)
Aww, thats to bad. I'm sure the styling would change if BMW would take it, I love the way the look.
Posted by Hunter | May 29, 2007 9:21 PM
Posted on May 29, 2007 21:21
"Ford who has been in financial distress the past few years lost $327 billion from their luxury nameplates, which includes Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln and Volvo (Ford does not disclose the revenue totals for each of its luxury brands)."
$327 billion? Don't they mean million? $327 billion is more than the freakin' GDP of Sweden!
Posted by Seamonster | May 29, 2007 10:09 PM
Posted on May 29, 2007 22:09
Hm, as much as I love BMW and am all for them acquiring more companies, I don't see them gaining anything from Volvo unless BMW wants a brand to market more traditional cars that start $5-10k less than BMW? Mini of course is a niche market, as is Rolls Royce, so there's no worry about those infringing on BMW sales, but Volvo's might to a degree.
Posted by Remy LeBeau | May 29, 2007 11:34 PM
Posted on May 29, 2007 23:34
I think BMW purchasing Volvo has the possibility to succeed, but it would be difficult to keep the differentiation between the brands.
I am not really sure about in Europe, but here in the US, Volvo had an outstanding reputation for safety throughout the last few decades.
BMW could use Volvo to penetrate a lower priced segment of the market with vehicles that concentrate more on safety than performance. Top end Volvos would definitely compete with BMWs though, so they would have to be careful in how they differentiate the brands. I wouldn't buy it, but it might be a hit if BMW could make their xi AWD standard on all Volvos and still keep the S40 under $25k.
Or maybe BMW would just get rid of Volvo cars and leave the Volvo brand serving the bus/truck/construction vehicle market
Posted by Ad | May 30, 2007 12:19 PM
Posted on May 30, 2007 12:19
Ford can't do that!! The whole reason why Ford is getting better quality and safety is because of Volvo and Ford's other foreign companies.
Posted by tyler | July 27, 2007 1:53 PM
Posted on July 27, 2007 13:53