Ford wants $6 billion for Volvo
Ford bought Volvo for $6.4 billion back in 1999. Now, a decade later, unconfirmed reports say the automaker is asking nearly the same amount -- $6 billion -- for the Swedish brand.
Ford may sell Volvo to demonstrate active steps to cut costs (a critical move as Mulally is in Washington asking Congress for financial assistance as you read this). Although it's a buyer's market, Volvo isn't exactly the hottest catch. Like everyone else, the automaker is struggling in today's market as reported sales in the third-quarter were down 24%. Volvo has cut thousands of jobs, and has even been in recent talks with the Swedish government about financial support. Potential buyers of Volvo include SAIC Motor Corp., China's largest automaker, and Hyundai Motor Co., from South Korea. Another option would be for the Swedish government to become the temporary owner until a suitable industrial buyer is found, but we think that has the same chance as the Detroit 3 being federalized.
[Source: Bloomberg]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Mehdi Cheddadi 1:06PM (12/04/2008)
I can give them 2K$ and after christmas maybe a little bit more...
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TORONTO 1:11PM (12/04/2008)
excellent! I've got about 14 cents in wallet right now.... slowly but surely!
dyoung 1:22PM (12/04/2008)
i've got 250 bucks, so as of now the autoblog consortioum can take over operations at the reasonable offering of $2250.14 anyone else? theres still room for more people on the board of directors, but i want "Director of Shedding Dull Image Operations"
Randy 1:25PM (12/04/2008)
LOL 2k Nice
I think the 6 Billion figure is simply Ford's way of saying "We are not selling Volvo"..... "But we're making it look like we are"..........."And if someone steps up with 6 Billion in cash we might actually sell it to you because it be a 600% return on the value of the company in the current market".
Basically I think they're keeping it and putting a show on... Way to heavily integrated with Ford to get rid of it... I could be wrong :)
RPM 1:52PM (12/04/2008)
Autoblog readers should unite and fundraise for the failing automakers. We can buy the rights to a dead brand like Oldsmobile to give GM money, or the rights to Daimler from Tata, since it is unused. Or maybe buy Hummer, and using the enthusiast ideas here, we can build them into successful niche brands.
tgiffel 2:06PM (12/04/2008)
I'll give em 300
Alex 2:02PM (12/04/2008)
I was saving up for a house but... I'll throw my $15,000 into the pot.
Me: I own Volvo.
Her: Nice, which one?
Me: All of them.
Her: Do me.
yes... that would be sweet.
jamie 2:04PM (12/04/2008)
TORONTO
"excellent! I've got about 14 cents in wallet right now...."
And that' about how much Volvo would be worth if you actually did but it!
Where's your plan? How would you bring Volvo back from the grave? Could you do better than Ford?
Say What? 2:25PM (12/04/2008)
To Alex:
LOL!!! You nut!
Jake B 2:30PM (12/04/2008)
What a dream Alex. He says," I own Volvo." She says," My girlfriend drives a mini!"
Judy Zik 3:43PM (12/04/2008)
@ Alex
I think the conversation goes.
Alex: I have a Volvo.
Girl: Really??? That's bizzare. I mean. Your a man right? With man parts? So where is it? I mean I didn't think you could have both.
I will contribute $2000 to the Consortium but I want a seat on the board. Here is my plan.
1) Keep the partnership with Ford but get them to carry Volvo's in Ford Dealerships. No need for stand alone Volvo stores that only seem to be in select cities and half the time seem to be combined with competing brands.
2) Reduce the price premium for Volvo's. Customer perception isn't matching the price tags.
3) We all get the Volvo's are safe thing but do they have to look like bricks? How about taking a few chances with more funky designs. Come on you Swedes are the folks who brought us Ikea. Can't you make a car that looks more funky and interesting. The C30 was a good start. Now run with it.
esoterica 3:58PM (12/04/2008)
@Judy Zik, yeah I'm sure Ford would like the input from someone who can't use apostrophes or the proper form of "your/you're" correctly, or who hasn't noticed that Volvos haven't looked like bricks in a decade. Or that to be manly a car has to be a rolling penis extension.
earlofhalflight 9:45PM (12/04/2008)
To RPM:
Err, but Tata are using Daimler at present...
http://www.daimlercars.com/
CPT 1:13PM (12/04/2008)
What about BMW and Renault as a possible suitor.....for a brand like Volvo, there has to be more interest than just the largest Chinese automobile company and Hyundai. With all of the speculation it will be interesting to see how this actually unfolds.
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jim 1:40PM (12/04/2008)
Renault has some problems of its own right now and the collapse of the near luxury automobile market has put a real dent in BMW's cash position.
BMW needs to be careful. They sell only higher end cars in a pretty narrow segment and about 125,000 motorcycles a year. The customer for those vehicles may not exist in significant numbers for a while depending on how quickly the economy recovers.
Add to that the R&D costs for next generation powerplant technology and the cost of converting the manufacturing plants for these vehicles and $6B for Volvo could be better spent else where.
tj 2:46PM (12/04/2008)
I agree on Renault. But any of a number of other Euro car companies who would consider coming to America should be paying attention. Volvo has a solid dealer network - not too big, but sufficient to cover major markets. That's gotta be attractive on its own.
And I don't think $6b is too much given how much they purchased it for. Volvo is in much better shape now than back then. They still have safety, but now they don't look like a bread truck (and have become more reliable as well).
iQuack 1:14PM (12/04/2008)
So? Most people's stocks aren't worth as much as they were in 1999, either.
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MixiM 1:33PM (12/04/2008)
Hyundai wouldn't actually be that bad!
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hypermiler 1:40PM (12/04/2008)
Hyundai was never interested in Volvo or Saab. They were only interested in Jeep and Jaguar.
The only brand Hyundai will bid on is Jeep.
hypermiler 1:37PM (12/04/2008)
Who will bid on Volvo
BMW : A long time suitor.
SAIC : Nope. Will bid on GM assets instead because they understand how GM works through JVs.
Chery : Offered $3 billion two months ago but got rejected. May make another adjusted bid again, below $3 billion.
Hyundai : Nope. Not interested in anything other than Jeep or some other luxury brand.
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