As we’ve reported in the last few weeks, Ford has been trying its best to offload Volvo, the last of its ‘Prestige’ Euro marques.
The Chinese looked to be the best bet, but it seems that that is going nowhere at the moment (the Chinese are probably waiting for Ford to get in to an even deeper mess with the hope of picking up Volvo for peanuts) and now its seems that Ford’s fire-sale has drawn more blanks.
Now the Germans turn down the chance to own Volvo
Der Spiegel reports that Daimler (Mercedes-Benz) boss Dieter Zetsche has revealed that Daimler has turned down the chance to buy Volvo, and has also revealed that BMW has had a good look, and reached the same decision.
This news shows just how desperate Ford is getting with the sale of Volvo. It urgently needs to liberate the 6.5 billion USD it invested in the Swedish company in 1999, or at least whatever percentage of that it can coerce out of a buyer.
But any company that’s in a position to take on Volvo is probably in no position to take it on at the moment. The news that both Mercedes and BMW have turned Volvo down probably means that the only chance Ford has is if the Chinese can be persuaded to buy. But even the Chinese car makers have problems with falling sales and finacing problems. But that said, if the price gets low enough, the Chinese Government has huge cash reserves to fund the purchase.
Watch this space.
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