Ford Looks to Sell Volvo to China

Geely is only bidder remaining for Swedish subsidiary
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 28, 2009 8:52 AM CDT
Ford Looks to Sell Volvo to China
A model of Chinese automaker Geely's Gleagle GX 313 at the Shanghai International Auto Show on its public opening day in Shanghai, China.   (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

Ford put its Volvo unit up for sale last December, and it's narrowed the possible buyers to just one bidder: a Chinese consortium led by Geely, the country's largest private automaker. Geely first approached Ford about the purchase in summer 2008 and is prepared to pay about $2 billion, less than a third of the price Ford paid a decade ago. The company rejected an offer by an American group backed by private equity.

Last year Ford sold off Jaguar and Land Rover to India's Tata Motors for $2.4 billion, and getting Volvo off of its hands will allow the automaker to concentrate on its core brands in hopes of making a profit by 2011. The deal with Geely hasn't been inked yet, though, and Ford had considered keeping the Swedish unit as its losses began to narrow this year.
(More Volvo stories.)

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