Ford Picks China’s Geely as Preferred Bidder for Volvo Unit

[touchring]

http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=2...d=a95ZNr0A49j0

I've seen Geely running on Singapore roads, the car sucks by the look and even the paintwork becomes dull - poor quality paint.

But if they buy over Volvo, it's going to give them a huge advantage.

[GRG55]

Re: Ford Picks China’s Geely as Preferred Bidder for Volvo Unit

http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=2...d=a95ZNr0A49j0

I've seen Geely running on Singapore roads, the car sucks by the look and even the paintwork becomes dull - poor quality paint.

But if they buy over Volvo, it's going to give them a huge advantage.

I wonder what Geely's underlying strategy really is, and how it compares with the strategies of other acquirers of Ford's former luxury brands...such as Tata Motors purchases of Land Rover and Jaguar?

Is Geely really planning to build on the Volvo brand and it's European safety engineering heritage? Or will they use the acquisition only to tap into technology that would take them years to develop/learn organically...to create instead what EJ might call "a Volvo with Chinese characteristics"...:p

When former CEO Jacques Nasser assembled Ford's "Premium Group" of Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin [and promptly diluted it by rolling in Lincoln] the objective was to compete with the rise of Lexus in the luxury sedan segment, and to offset the effects of competition from Toyota, BMW, etc in the SUV/pick-up truck market that Ford then dominated. Despite the go-go years of the FIRE economy blow-off this decade, the market just wasn't there for these vehicles.

The history of the automotive industry is replete with prominent brands that disappeared...Packard, Duisenberg, Studebaker, DeSoto, Bristol, Cooper, Frazer Nash, AC, Sunbeam...and more recently Mercury, Oldsmobile and Pontiac. Can Jaguar, Aston Martin and Volvo be very far behind?

[touchring]

Re: Ford Picks China’s Geely as Preferred Bidder for Volvo Unit

I wonder what Geely's underlying strategy really is, and how it compares with the strategies of other acquirers of Ford's former luxury brands...such as Tata Motors purchases of Land Rover and Jaguar?

Is Geely really planning to build on the Volvo brand and it's European safety engineering heritage? Or will they use the acquisition only to tap into technology that would take them years to develop/learn organically...to create instead what EJ might call "a Volvo with Chinese characteristics"...:p

You have to also consider from the point of view of the Chinese consumer. The Volvo brand is much more valuable in the eyes of the Chinese as compared to the American consumer. This is also the reason why GM is doing well in China.

[jneal3]

Re: Ford Picks China’s Geely as Preferred Bidder for Volvo Unit

When former CEO Jacques Nasser assembled Ford's "Premium Group" of Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin [and promptly diluted it by rolling in Lincoln] the objective was to compete with the rise of Lexus in the luxury sedan segment, and to offset the effects of competition from Toyota, BMW, etc in the SUV/pick-up truck market that Ford then dominated. Despite the go-go years of the FIRE economy blow-off this decade, the market just wasn't there for these vehicles.

Nasser was the quintessential FIRE-economy CEO; starve the product pipeline of engineering/development funding to artificially pump up earnings and boost the stock price ('maximizing shareholder value' was the mantra in those days). He built the "Premium Group" in a large part on the assumption that there was a market for 200,000/yr Jag X-types.:eek: Just another destructor of the producing side of the American economy.