Geely Might Be the Only Legitimate Bidder for Volvo

I agree. Drop the long dead Mercury and keep Volvo.

"to be completely honest. I don't think they have the know-how or the resources to manage such an established brand."

wake up... this is 2009! Been to China lately?

Volvo has been a losing proposition for Ford since they bought majority stake, so apparently they didn't have the know-how or the resources to manage, let alone grow, the brand, either. In that case, Geely is just as good a suitor...

A reality of the times is that it just isn't feasible to keep a resource-sucking, negative-revenue halo brand hanging around. Ford has been the only responsible domestic manufacturer of the big three, so I would expect them to get rid of the brand they can't make money keeping.

I have to disagree with you tryan, its has only been recently that Volvo was a money LOSER. For many years it was suspected, with probable cause, that Volvo kept the PAG division afloat. It has only been since the recession that Volvo could not sustain itself. It makes sense at this point to Keep Volvo in the fold since their product range and tech are so integrated into Ford and it keeps price production down for Volvo when Ford mass produces their tech products.

It would be a shame to see Ford sell Volvo, especially now that so many Fords are built on Volvo platforms. They could really use the Volvo technology and know-how when it comes to working with high strength steel.

They're trying too hard to hold onto mercury because of brand history, but Mercury doesn't bring anything special to Ford. Axe Mercury and keep Volvo, or at least start selling Mercury vehicles that aren't just rebadged Fords with different sheetmetal. A good start would be the Ford of Europe lineup. They're so worried about the European lineup being too expensive to sell here and it looks like they want to position Mercury as a slightly more premium brand... just looks like a match made in heaven to me.

That aside, Volvo has some solid products and a lot of tech to back them up. I know they haven't sold well recently, but it would be a shame to see Ford ditch the company.

What!? Ford doesn't consider my $20 offer for the company legit!?

"Ford should keep Volvo." "Drop the long dead Mercury" instead, or "start selling Mercury vehicles that aren't just rebadged Fords" like from "the Ford of Europe lineup." Yes, I matched up different people's quotes, but everyone's basically saying the same thing I would.

jaguar8 - Maybe I was a bit exaggeratory, but losses since at least 2006 hardly qualify as 'recent'. There's even evidence that Ford was considering the sale of Volvo much earlier than 2006.

Regardless, the whole PAG concept failed miserably due to a number of reasons, mismanagement, poor marketing, poor brand coordination, etc. Chief among those reasons, however, was something Ford could not have helped or predicted: a recession that hit the luxury vehicle market like a ton of bricks.

I think Volvo's declining sales have a lot to do with product: the XC90's now old, the S60 is even older (and was mistakenly aimed at the 3-series, not the ES like its predecessor), the S40 is nearing a need for replacement, and the S80 was a boring (and FWD-based) remake in a segment in which anyone other than major players have historically stuttered.

I would posit that Volvo's far from a damaged brand, but needs a heavy cash infusion and careful product development to bring it back to the sales position it once enjoyed. I suspect that for Ford, there isn't great enough benefit to be derived from that kind of resource dedication...but I maintain that Geely probably doesn't have the cash and certainly doesn't have the experience to pull it off, either.

"Dutch supercar maker Koenigsegg, the other Swedish automaker"

Since when is Sweden Dutch? Bad typo I guess.

mj85: "especially now that so many Fords are built on Volvo platforms."

It's hard to really call them Volvo platforms. They were co-developed. They appeared on Volvo products first because the price premium for Volvo made it more feasible. I wouldn't underestimate Ford's ability to develop.

tyran, also keep in mind that Jaguar was on the verge of collapse when Ford bought them. Ford dramatically improved Jag's quality and sales numbers. Too bad, it wasn't enough.