Yesterday Jerry York made some statements about the fact that Ford should sell its Volvo and Mercury brands. Well today Ford has released an official statement that Volvo is not for sale and that the automaker continues to invest in Mercury.
“We’re focused on improving the business,” Volvo Chairman Lewis Booth told Automotive News Europe.
According to Booth, Volvo is not for sale and the automaker's product program is in order. Although Volvo's product lineup may doing well, the automaker still managed to post a pretax loss of $151 million in the first quarter of 2008. Compare this to a profit of $94 million during the same quarter last year. Rising raw material costs and the weakening dollar are partly to blame.
Booth also stated that Volvo is counting on the new XC60 SUV to help the brand.
In regards to Mercury, Ford has stated that the automaker is continuing to invest in the brand and new Mercury products such as the revised Milan and Mariner that are due out this fall. I still don't really get the point of Mercury. How about they release some new Mercury products that don't look like their cheaper Ford counterparts?
Full Story: eGMCarTech
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Comments (7)
Ford Denies Yet Again that Volvo is Not for Sale....
You mean "Ford Yet Again Denies that Volvo is for Sale"
Posted by Roger_Mudd | May 2, 2008 7:34 PM
Posted on May 2, 2008 19:34
Ford should keep Volvo because its Volvo's chassis and suspension that give the Taurus such good handling, comfort, and 5 star safety rating.
Posted by Saheed | May 2, 2008 9:02 PM
Posted on May 2, 2008 21:02
maybe its for rent...
Posted by waldorf and statler | May 3, 2008 2:14 AM
Posted on May 3, 2008 02:14
Volvo isn't going to get sold, Ford has invested a lot in Volvo's safety and technolgies and it's paid off. Ford is now one of the safest cars on the road thanks to the help of Volvo and for anyone that thinks that's not important when it comes to what consumors are looking for needs to look again. Consumors today mostly look for two things in a car, mpg and safety.
As for Mercury it's not going to ever get sold or dropped for that matter as long as the Ford family owns Ford.
Posted by SteelCity1981 | May 3, 2008 7:25 PM
Posted on May 3, 2008 19:25
I agree with SteelCity1981. Ford's invested too much with Volvo - shared platforms, safety, etc to be separated easily from Ford. Ford's biggest problem I see is it's cars are still too bland and Volvo still has perceived and real reliability problems. For a premium brand, Ford needs to invest in reliability ASAP to make Volvo compete with Lexus, Audi, and BMW. Volvo's a decent car, but not when you compare price vs. interior quality (still some gaps and lower quality feeling switchgear) and overall reliability. If Ford can address these challenges with Volvo, it will make money off of the brand.
Posted by lostproc | May 5, 2008 7:47 AM
Posted on May 5, 2008 07:47
I agree with SteelCity1981. Ford's invested too much with Volvo - shared platforms, safety, etc to be separated easily from Ford. Ford's biggest problem I see is it's cars are still too bland and Volvo still has perceived and real reliability problems. For a premium brand, Ford needs to invest in reliability ASAP to make Volvo compete with Lexus, Audi, and BMW. Volvo's a decent car, but not when you compare price vs. interior quality (still some gaps and lower quality feeling switchgear) and overall reliability. If Ford can address these challenges with Volvo, it will make money off of the brand.
Posted by lostproc | May 5, 2008 7:48 AM
Posted on May 5, 2008 07:48
Its good that they aren't selling off Volvo, but what worries me is that "the automaker continues to invest in Mercury". Mercury is useless, get rid of it, just bury it.
Posted by gm0n3y | May 5, 2008 11:37 AM
Posted on May 5, 2008 11:37