Daily Auto News
Ford recently announced that it aims to complete the sale of its Volvo Cars unit to a Chinese company, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, sometime in 2010. What the deal means for Volvo’s safety-based identity isn’t clear, which has prompted some former executives to voice concern.
Autoblog explains, “The former execs felt Geely didn’t have the cash or products to keep Volvo competitive and there was also a sense that Geely would somehow change how Volvo was run.”
Reuters is now reporting that the execs have nothing to worry about, at least for the short term: “Volvo’s current production, research and development facilities, union agreements and dealer networks will all be left intact, said Li Shufu, the founder and chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, the parent of Geely Auto.”
Left Lane News explains that Geely’s primary interest in Volvo is to aid in the development of new energy/alternate fuel vehicles. They note Geely “hoped to reduce some of the production costs for Volvo, in addition to expanding the Volvo brand into the Chinese market.”
So what does this mean for consumers? For now, Volvo purists can rest easy in the knowledge that their Swedish brand will remain intact. Of course, anything could happen when (and if) the sale goes through sometime next year.
See Volvo models fare in our rankings. Plus, check out the U.S. News rankings of this year’s best cars as well as this month’s best car deals.
