I'd Geely LIke To Own Volvo

Ford is rumored to be in talks with China’s Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. to unload its Volvo division. Such a sale would not give Ford much in the way of actual cash as it has pledged Volvo as collateral when it secured a massive line of credit in 2006 (which in retrospect was a stroke of genius). This would, however, get rid of a money-losing operation and allow Ford to concentrate on its core, something the company has been working towards for some time now. Say what you will, no matter how things end up, Ford did get more from its relationship with its Swedish girlfriend than GM ever did with Saab.

source: Bloomberg.com: Worldwide

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Volvo Free Maintenance Returns

File this one under "I completely missed it." Volvo, which axed its free maintenance scheme for 2006 models, has added it back for 2009 at the behest of U.S. dealers.

I've always been a fan of free maintenance. It's a nice way to segue into ownership of a new car: it's nice to know that almost all initial expenses are covered. Many players left the free maintenance game awhile back and I was dismayed. Now Volvo and Volkswagen are back in the game, joining BMW, Saab, Mini and Land Rover.

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Volvo S60 Concept

Whereas the production XC60 looks awkward from many angles, this concept S60 is very attractive. The production version of this car should look pretty similar, minus some of the crazy interior gizmos. I have lamented that while I really like the XC60 collision prevention technology, I'm held back by the styling. No such worries with this concept, but of course, I'll wait for the production version before making any final judgments.

My only worry (and this applies to all Volvos) is the dealer body and the less than stellar reliability record that Volvos have compiled with my friends. I have been less than impressed with Volvo dealers in my area, having a left several showrooms in disgust at the way I was being treated. I have also seen my friends continually trekking back to the service department to fix minor issues that keep reoccurring. In my youth (late twenties, early thirties) I was much more amendable to this sort of annoyance as a I price I paid to own a somewhat unique car. However, after years of Saab, Land Rover and Jaguar ownership, I’ve just about had it. I am no longer willing to accept the hassle that comes with owning cars that can’t keep it all together. I’m tired of trim pieces falling off, warning lights glowing, water pumps failing at 20,000 miles, electric windows coming off their track, rattles emanating from all corners, etc. Now I just want to buy cars that aren’t going to give me any trouble and if that means that I end up driving more vanilla vehicles, then that is a price that must be paid. I’m just not sure that Volvo has a strong enough reliability record to get me back behind the wheel, but styling cars like this is a great way to start!

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Volvo XC60

When I first saw the XC60, I thought to myself "That thing is nasty!" However, Volvo has done a few things to ameliorate my opinion of the car. Firstly, they have literally thrown an entire dictionary's worth of electronics into this vehicle. Volvo likes to bill the XC60 as the world's safest car and provided all the systems are working, I see no reason to dispute that. The next thing I noticed as I sat inside the car is that the interior is quite appealing. There was a young lady in the driver's seat and she was quite excited to be there. If you like Volvo's and you like technology then this is your automotive equivalent of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.

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Just Like a Bogus Virus Warning: Ford Shopping Volvo to BMW?

Ford had talks with BMW to sell Volvo?

More gossip about Ford trying to pawn off Volvo to BMW. The one problem I have with all of these rumors is that Ford has already entangled Volvo in its pledge of assets when it secured access to a massive financing package (a move that seems like sheer genius now). Any sale of Volvo would require some of the proceeds to pay off the obligation tied to Volvo's assets. That means that anything less than a princely sum would yield very little for Ford. It is for this reason that you'll probably hear time and time again of talks breaking down over disagreements in price.

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Swedes Don't See Ford in Their Future

With sales down and losses up, Volvo employees are looking for a savior. Many workers feel that Ford ownership is no longer in the best interest of the company because Ford is hemorrhaging cash and battling a tough market at home, so it doesn't have the resources or inclination to help Volvo out of its own slump (their opinion, not necessarily fact). Basically, Volvo employees was a "sugar daddy" who will shower money upon the company so that it can invest in new products.

So what are the chances that Volvo will be sold off? Well, there have been many rumors about Ford shopping the Swedish brand, but to date nothing has ever come of it. My own analysis would be that a Chinese manufacturer would benefit the most from Volvo's safety heritage, but really any upstart would get a boost in reputation and an established dealer body. However, would a new owner truly be in the best interest of these disaffected employees? I'm not so sure about that one at all. I worry that a new owner would, over time, start to develop and manufacture Volvos in lower cost labor markets.

If a deal is ever going to happen, then buyers will have to come to Ford with suitcases of money. Given recent airline restrictions on luggage, that might be a problem :-) Personally I'd rate the chances that Ford will sell Volvo in the next 12 months at 50/50.

source: automotive news

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Animal Activists Flambé a Volvo

A violent wing of animal liberation protesters have fire bombed the car of a UC Santa Cruz researcher. The devices used to bomb the car and another researcher's house were "significantly larger than a Molotov cocktail." Fortunately no one was injured by these attacks. It's unclear to me what animal experiments these researchers were conducting and how terrorizing these people and their families will help matters.

Okay, now let's get down to why I posted this image. Notice how the tailgate is missing? When I saw this picture, I said to myself "That's got to be sheet-molded composite (SMC)." Sure enough, when I searched "Volvo station wagon smc" I found that the V70 does indeed have a plastic tailgate.

That's all I've got for you on this one.

source: mercury news
photo source: Shmuel Thaler/Santa Cruz Sentinel

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Ford Shopping Volvo Like George Shopped His Bathroom Book

NewsDaily: Ford had talks with Renault to sell Volvo: sources

"Ford Motor Co has had exploratory talks with French automaker Renault SA to sell Volvo, but the talks ended quickly due to price differences, sources briefed on the matter told Reuters. Ford has also had talks with China's third-largest automaker, Dongfeng Motor Group as a potential partner for Volvo, one of the sources said."

Will there be no takers? Ford has already entangled Volvo in its pledge of assets last year when it secured access to a massive financing package. Any sale of Volvo would require some of the proceeds to pay off the obligation tied to Volvo's assets. That means that anything less than a princely sum would yield very little for Ford. It is for this reason that you'll probably hear time and time again of talks breaking down over disagreements in price.

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Yom-yom-yooom, ze chocolad: Ford Unloading Volvo?

Ford in discussions with Chinese co to sell Volvo cars unit

Out of all of Ford’s purchases, I don’t think that Volvo was such a bad one. The brand has a fantastic reputation for safety and platform sharing amongst Ford and Volvo has been fruitful. However, when you build a recovery plan based on certain assumptions (such as x number of F-150 sales) and then find those very pillars of your pro-forma collapsing, well you’ve got to do something. Whereas Land Rover and Jaguar were easily classified as the “fat men in the lifeboat” and sent packing, Volvo has much more worth and therefore hopefully a much higher price tag.

Who would be interested? Chinese? Russian? German? Perhaps even an Indian company? Volvo represents a nice deal for someone looking to crack the US market. You’ve got that strong reputation for safety which would be a great asset for a fledgling company that may not have the best track record. There is a decently sized, standalone dealer body in the US—all the better to establish a beachhead in our market. Volvo’s existing lineup looks good with the only real problem being that they currently do not manufacture any vehicles in the US and therefore suffer the currency consequences.

You could pick up Volvo and continue to manufacture cars in Sweden, but also supplement with cars from your homeland. In addition, US manufacturing capability could be found by acquiring plant capacity from the likes of Chrysler, Ford or GM. What a great way to gain entry into the US! Of course, Ford would expect a handsome reward for its relatively healthy brand. That cash could continue to bolster Ford’s liquidity and help it to weather the difficult storm that many automakers currently find themselves in.

Additionally, I’m still not convinced that Sweden is capable of support two automakers. If someone were to acquire Volvo, could they also pick up Saab at a discount from GM? Consolidating the Swedish automotive industry could help with economies of scale. Of course, with the current platforms being so wildly disparate it would take some time for any economies of scale to be realized. The other option is that a Chinese manufacturer could acquire Volvo and a Russian or Indian company could pick up Saab, or some combination thereof.

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