Ford is looking to dump its premium brand Volvo, known for its safety, and is currently said to be in talks with two Chinese car manufacturers – Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) and ChangAn Automobile Group.
The SAIC rumour came about last week, reported by publications which were quoting unnamed sources. According to reports, Ford is hoping the Volvo sale can fetch £4 billion, which is less than the £4.4 billion sum it paid for Volvo in 1999. SAIC could do perform some front wheel drive platform sharing magic between MG and Ford.
Ford refused to comment on the talks when contacted by members of the media. “We will not comment on speculation or rumors, nor will we comment on regular business discussions that we have with our partners,” Ford said in a statement. Changan is Ford’s partner in China, and makes some Fords and Mazdas in China under one of its subsidiaries. It also assembles the Volvo S40 in China.
Another Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor Group is also mildly interested in acquiring any assets the Detroit Three may dump for cheap. You may have noticed Dongfeng trucks in Malaysia. But Dongfeng is only monitoring the situation at best, and it’s too early to say if it would buy any assets.
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i wouldnt buy any Volvo that are made under Chinese org… not much people would since their product reliability are not standard…. from food products too toys…. Any makes from the nation of rising would be welcome…
Orait…but what if Tata bought over Volvo then, would u buy any Volvo made by Indian company compare to the Chinese? Just a thought…
Dongfeng a.k.a LMG.
Volvo does pretty decent cars, but being dumped from one company to another, i wonder how the workers feel?
today, i report to ang moh boss, tomorrow i report to chinese boss!
Paul Tan says: LMG is Dadi. Anyway, I’m not talking about pickup trucks, more like Hicom Perkasa kinda trucks.
transformer – what a silly comment. a lot of high tech stuff comes from china like ipods, digital cameras (sony, panasonic, canon etc), computer parts, handphones, air conditioner, ps3 etc etc etc. so you are not buying any of them?
torque,
I would :) Jaguar, is now an indian ahaha.
kitman, your example is flawed. iPod, digicams, PS3 are ASSEMBLED in China, but not designed in China. You should instead look at chinese designed products. Like melamine milks perhaps…
kitman,
Yes, it’s pretty much impossible for a house to not contain a china made product these days, unless if u’re living in the jungle….
I think companies play a role in ensuring quality, even if it’s made in china. I mean, surely, those large MNC u mentioned like sony, panasonic etc hv standards that must be practiced, so that every product that comes out of their factories are of good quality. Not to say 100% good, but lemons would be very little n controlled. Whereas those local Chinese company cap ayam may likely to be more concerned abt making money, with little regards on customers’ welfare.
However, the dangers would be when MNC rely too much on local suppliers :S Like, even Dutch Lady was tainted with melamine, ugh…… Thank God our Dutch Lady is not affected :D So I still continue consuming Dutch Lady milks :)
Yeah, yeah.. Still katak di bawah tempurung… Milk also related to car..
Nowadays almost 50% above of market products are made by China. I already told you all that China is running not walking like our pace.
If they manage to buy Volvo, just like MG Rover sell to 1 China Company. Hello, have you guys reads the QC in MG Rover in China!?! They have real western people working with them, not all China dude! The UK MG Rover even sent representative there to look after the plant QC also! It is a success story in China!
It will be easy that the China car can get better safety & technology! If this deal is done, it will be no problem seeing China produce car in the next 5-10 years get 5 star EURONCAP! So when that day come, i can kiss Proton bye bye for safety.. Dont look down on those China dudes, they have survive so many century n they know what to do..
I’m sure by then China cars would not be as cheap as they are now.
China solves problems now by buying anything they don’t have. A good strategy from the start. As their economy picks up, so too will the standard of living and cost of labour. And as consumers demand the same or better quality from vehicles that they manufacture when comparing them to the rest of the world, I am sure it will become more and more challenging to keep costs low.
I have no problems with purchasing a China made product if they are fit for the purpose. If I buy a cheap VCD player for RM50, I’d expect it to fail within 12 months or less. The same goes with their cars for now.
Give them time and they will eventually catch-up. I wish Volvo all the best and I hope their brand does not deteriorate when it changes hands.
I just can not undestand why, melamine is keep on mentioned in this forum. Face the fact, some food products manufactured in Malaysia also tested contains melamine by other country. Is all Malaysia made food is safe???? or we never do the test???
Anyway, China really gaining their momentum to be a superpower, how about we Malaysia??? Still talk about melamine????
even if china buys over volvo, volvo will still operate independantly and most likely volvo technology and influence and be transferred to the Chinese then the other way round.
Give another 25 years….half of the world’s product will be owned by chinese soon.
safety… from china???? no way… i wish u guys get some email showing how bad safety is emphasized in their country. even construction worker using some kind of bed sponge as their safety helmet, that thin plastic bag as their hand gloves. if these chinese company takes over, Volvo may need to change name. “Roboh” perhaps…
Obviously Volvo would retain its own management, design and production arms, same as they ALREADY do under foreign ownership. Just like, oh gee, Lotus and Proton? I agree with you layman, tired of idiots like tiadaid who never have anything intelligent to say and only know to ignorantly blab melamine whenever anything remotely China-related comes up. Morons like him will ensure Malaysia falls further and further behind in the future.
lol@reactix, man have you ever seen the workshop safety standards here in Malaysia? Talk about throwing stones in a glass house…
Again, for those slow to comprehend, Volvo would almost certainly stay almost completely independent if purchased by a Chinese company, to preserve its brand equity and R&D. If anything, they may even improve with new streams of capital available as opposed to being owned by a sick and contracting Ford.
Volvo itself would be most successful under this scenario, while still able to provide a lot of safety technology transfer. The Chinese know this. They’re not going to wreck the brand’s reputation for safety, what would be point? They are savvy businessmen, they wouldn’t be so silly and wasteful as to buy an established and respected European brand for something like 70M euro, just to run it into the ground and sell it for one euro…then see it bought by Harley Davidson for 70M euro…
kalau tengku mahaleel masih ada dalam proton, tak heran kalau volvo pun dia abik…kawan aku pun cakap macam tu…
Someone said that China will turn to “kuasa besar ekonomi yang baru”. replacing the american. Maybe this is one of Chinese strategy. Who knows?
I will never trust China-made product !!!!
Only wish proton had 4 bil pounds lying around somewhere to buy this brand
oh my god, this is sick, some china company that cannot make cars buying over an awesome swedish car company. whats this world coming to?
All I’m saying is that although we consume more and more made in China products, the fact of the matter is that quality issues are still a problem in China. Besides the contamination of melamine, there’s the case of lead found in toys made in China last year I believe, and not forgetting the pet food contamination, remember? We often praise them for developing at such a fast pace, but these instances show that when it comes to making money, they will not hesitate to cut corners. I did not “ignorantly blab melamine whenever anything remotely China-related comes up”.
Saying China’s product bad quality is short sighted. China make the best quality to the worst quality products….depending on how much you are willing to pay and most people only afford to pay ‘peanut’ so what do you expect, you can only get ‘monkey’.
volvo design is excellent, then the china people sure destroy it
too much rubbish being said here by people who have no understanding of the big picture.. and who are probably even using stuff made in china without knowing it.
i am also of the opinion that a good china company buying volvo will be good for everyone. good for volvo, and good for the chinese as they will then get their hands on the technology that volvo has and volvo will have access to some extra funding that could help them do more with R&D as well as their products..etc.
exactly layman. What’s funny is these melamine jokers always forget that their very own Malaysia had to suspend its school milk program last year because too many students were getting food poisoning. Would they consider it fair to relate that scandal to Proton?
Besides, as it’s been amply discussed, Volvo would obviously stay independent. Ford also had a crap reputation for quality when it bought Volvo, which is why they let the brand continue on its own, same as the Chinese would do.
BanyakMasukWorkshop said,
December 12, 2008 @ 2:55 pm
too much rubbish being said here by people who have no understanding of the big picture.. and who are probably even using stuff made in china without knowing it.
i am also of the opinion that a good china company buying volvo will be good for everyone. good for volvo, and good for the chinese as they will then get their hands on the technology that volvo has and volvo will have access to some extra funding that could help them do more with R&D as well as their products..etc.
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THE DIFFERNCE IS THAT EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN OR JAPANESE COMPANIES OWN THOSE FACTORIES AND PRODUCE THEIR STUFF IN CHINA. SO THERE’S QUALITY CONTROL. NOW ITS A CHINA COMPANY MAKING CHINA STUFF WITH A EUROPEAN BADGE.
sayang btul gie7 dgn tengku mahaleel…
I LOVE SABINE SCHMITZ said,
———————————————
THE DIFFERNCE IS THAT EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN OR JAPANESE COMPANIES OWN THOSE FACTORIES AND PRODUCE THEIR STUFF IN CHINA. SO THERE’S QUALITY CONTROL. NOW ITS A CHINA COMPANY MAKING CHINA STUFF WITH A EUROPEAN BADGE.
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Some people are just ignorant!
For your info, all foreign-brand cars produced in China are made by joint-venture with a local China partner. There are no wholly foreign-owned car factories in China.
autojohndoe said,
December 12, 2008 @ 4:40 pm
sayang btul gie7 dgn tengku mahaleel…
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:-) Hahaha…tu la. Still, Gie7 does have a point there. If TM still in Proton, it’s not impossible what he said might be true,right? Well, what past is past then…
tokmoh said,
December 10, 2008 @ 11:55 pm
torque,
I would :-) Jaguar, is now an indian ahaha.
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Me too, especially the XF. Man…I gila betul ngan model tu. Anyway, that’s the whole point with this issue to those that don’t understand the big picture,right? I don’t see any indians assemble or making Jaguar in India?!! Just because they bought it doesn’t mean they will shift the entire company’s operation or the assembly plant to their home ground. I’ll assure you that any Jaguar you buy, you’ll be getting a British built…cuma boss je lain. Same goes as Proton with Lotus, Renault with Nissan and so on. At the end of the day, even when the Chinese do end up buying Volvo, you’ll be getting a swedish built cars. So, just wait and see if the chinese can handle Volvo better than the americans la…now thats a sight to behold!! Just my penny thought, cheers! :-)
Proton Sagwa said,
December 11, 2008 @ 1:35 pm
The Chinese know this. They’re not going to wreck the brand’s reputation for safety, what would be point? They are savvy businessmen, they wouldn’t be so silly and wasteful as to buy an established and respected European brand for something like 70M euro, just to run it into the ground and sell it for one euro…then see it bought by Harley Davidson for 70M euro…
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lol :-) kah kah kah…ooooooo….ada makna tu….
still its better than being sold to some malaysian company