Volvo's suitor of the week: China's Chery

Following up on our report last month about Volvo possibly going to the Chinese, state media is now reporting that Chery Automobile, one of the largest independent and fastest growing Chinese auto manufacturers, has its eyes on the Swedish automaker. Although officials at Chery rule out the possibility of buying Volvo, other sources have stated that the Chinese automaker has already negotiated funding for a possible acquisition. If so, that funding will be significant-insiders put Volvo's value at 30 billion yuan (about $4.4 billion dollars). This isn't the first time that Ford has been rumored to be cashing-out on Volvo... however, it was just two months ago that Ford officials reiterated that Volvo was not for sale. We wouldn't bet our yuan on it.

[ Via: Automotive News ]
[ Tag: Chery, Chery Automotive Group, CheryAutomotiveGroup, China, Chinese, Ford selling Volvo, FordSellingVolvo, Sale, Suitor, Volvo ]

Ford to make fewer Volvos, possibly in prep for sale

Volvo, once the success story in Ford's Premier Automotive Group, has hit choppy waters. And according to Wall Street Journal insiders, Ford is preparing to treat the Swedish automaker the same way it did the English ones: slap some floaties on it and keep the brand bobbing long enough to sell it.
Volvo made $94 million in profit in Q1 of 2007, but lost $151 million in Q1 of this year. In total, over the past two years, the once smiling Swede has lost $1.7 billion, part of which is due to exchange rates, and another is due to selling fewer cars. To combat the decline, Volvo is shedding up to a third of its work force at one European plant, and cutting back on production at another. As you would suspect, both of those plants make the largest vehicles in Volvo's lineup.
A couple of weeks ago, Ford was intriguingly -- or deceitfully -- still in "Volvo's not for sale" mode. Now it appears that Mulally has admitted to some Ford execs that Volvo is about to wear the "Needs a Caring Home" sign. Jerry York, the right hand man of Kirk Kerkorian, maintains that Volvo will probably be sold in 18 months. The way things look now, we'd be surprised if it took that long.

[ Via: Yahoo! ]
[ Tag: ford, manufacturing, plants, volvo, volvo factories, volvo factory, volvo losses, volvo production, volvo sale, volvo sales, VolvoFactories, VolvoFactory, VolvoLosses, VolvoProduction, VolvoSale, VolvoSales ]

15 millionth Volvo rolls off the assembly line

It took over 80 years, but Volvo has hit a mega milestone with the production of its 15,000,000th vehicle. The big number was hit with a C70 convertible, which rolled off the assembly line yesterday in Uddevalla, Sweden.Although Volvo started as SKF in 1911, it wasn't until 1927 that the company produced its first vehicle, the ÖV4, of which it made only 297 examples in its first year. Volvo's production capacity as a major automaker has, of course, long since far exceeded that rate. However the 200-Series, produced between 1974 and 1993, remains the best-selling Volvo of all time, with over 2.8 million units sold. Swedophiles can read more in the press release after the jump, and check out our 29-image high-resolution gallery of the 2008 Volvo C70 below.

[ Via: Autoblog (Volvo) ]
[ Tag: 15 millionth volvo, 15,000,000th volvo, 15,000,000thVolvo, 15m volvo, 15MillionthVolvo, 15mVolvo, volvo 15 million, volvo 15,000,000, volvo 15m, volvo fifteen million, Volvo15,000,000, Volvo15m, Volvo15Million, VolvoFifteenMillion ]

Ford PAG abandoning California HQ

After setting up its Premium Automotive Group back in the late '90s, Ford built the luxury über-division an award-winning, shiny new facility in Irvine, California in 2001, far away from the parent company's influence in Dearborn, Michigan, as the American hub for the predominantly European group. Since then, however, PAG has been slowly dwindling away, as Lincoln was separated from the group, Aston Martin was recently sold off and Jaguar and Land Rover are on the verge of departure, as well. Once those two brands are gone, only Volvo will remain. Now the last remaining PAG constituent is moving its U.S. operations to Rockleigh, New Jersey.The shift to the East Coast for Volvo is expected to cut overhead and increase the overlap in working hours with PAG's headquarters in England and Volvo HQ in Sweden, but puts another nail in the coffin of former Ford CEO Jacques Nasser's grand vision of a profit-generating luxury enterprise. Witness one more burned-out star saying goodbye to Hollywood.

[ Via: Automotive News ]
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