Geely secures financing for Volvo purchase, scouting for Chinese production base

Geely secures financing for Volvo purchase, scouting for Chinese production baseChinese automaker Geely has managed to find USD 2.1 billion worth of financing and will seal an agreement with Ford for the acquisition of Volvo Car Corporation by the end of this month, according to reports. The capital was raised from unidentified financial institutions and local governments.

An AFP report said that Geely does not plan to move Volvo production of to China. Trade unions in Sweden are fearing job cuts at Volvo Cars, which has 16,000 staff on its payroll in the high cost Scandinavian country and 8,000 more across the globe.

At the same time, news sources from Hong Kong (where Geely is listed) say that the Hangzhou based company is selecting locations in China for Volvo production, with Beijing and Tianjin vying for the project. The reports add that Geely will set up a plant in China with a production capacity of about 300,000 vehicles annually, nearly doubling Volvo’s global output. This move is aimed to steer Volvo into profitability before 2011 through China’s lower manufacturing and labour costs. If this plan works, the fears of the well paid fatihfuls back in Gothenburg is very likely to turn into reality.

Source

Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.

10% discount when you renew your car insurance

Compare prices between different insurer providers and use the promo code 'PAULTAN10' when you make your payment to save the most on your car insurance renewal compared to other competing services.

Car Insurance

Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • Mazda 3 MPS on Mar 12, 2010 at 10:05 am

    oh no

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • mystvearn (Member) on Mar 12, 2010 at 10:29 am

    A RM150k C30 is quite nice thought actually.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • MoFaz on Mar 12, 2010 at 11:08 am

    So Volvo only produce 150,000 cars annually before this? hurm, i wonder what Geely going to turn Volvo into. China could say that they produce both the weakest and safest car after this. But I must admit, China and India are the new giant in economy, will be surpassing Japan and German soon!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • NiceCar (Member) on Mar 12, 2010 at 2:51 pm

    For the Sweden employee, so pity that they might loss thier job.

    For those workers / employees will understand that how worst it is if loss a job.

    But for the big boss, sure focus on profit, move to China definitely can save a lot on labour cost.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Later Geely add the northeast arrow to its logo

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • niuhje on Mar 12, 2010 at 6:03 pm

    Volvo for…. China!!??? new tagline? haha… so sad.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Peter on Mar 12, 2010 at 6:46 pm

    I dont think so…..The market in china will be mostly for domestic markets and also the region near china only…….So i personally dont think there will be too much cutting on staff just because the market in china is set up.

    Unless they want to close their operations in Europe& US…….Then i dont think there will be much staff cutting….Because they also need some staff from sweden to go over china for some training sessions and monitoring process……

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • tanasi on Mar 12, 2010 at 7:07 pm

    Wolwo is the new Volvo, just like what Roewe is for Rover.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • DoubleTap on Mar 12, 2010 at 9:57 pm

    good bye volvo !

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • lambov12 on Mar 13, 2010 at 2:14 am

    it's better to return Volvo to the Sweds ..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • x-men on Mar 13, 2010 at 2:20 am

    birth of a new combi brand: Volvogeely

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Johan on Mar 13, 2010 at 9:14 am

    China buys Volvo, so geli la.

    The Chinese will destroy the Swede masterpiece, they're not interested in the brand or what it stands for, but just the technology.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Littlefire on Mar 13, 2010 at 9:37 am

    China is the next big power of the world, we all knew it the day it opens it market!

    Rover have been sold to China, and what they achieve is even more better compare to UK (Still surviving!). Even Buick can survive in China, why not Volvo?

    I am going to bet in the next few years, EuroNCAP 5 star China made cars are not possible. Thanks to Geely & Volvo.

    For us, all those safety gadget will be more cheaper and easier to be purchase as mass production are cheap overthere…

    Anyway if i not mistaken, Volvo factory in Sweden will not be close. As they will need R&D and manufacturing plant in Europe.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • please gov decrease on Mar 13, 2010 at 5:35 pm

    saya tak rasa Geely sbg pemilik baru akan tutup kilang Volvo di Sweden. Sebabnya sykt2 automatif china lain spt BYD, Chery, Brilliance dll dalam usaha membina kilang automatif mereka di negara Eropah spt Jerman dan Itali. Bahkan BYD ada usaha buka kilang di California, USA. Saya rasa kalau Geely jual dan tutup kilang di Sweden, ia adalah langkah kebelakang dan kurang efisyen.

    1) Reputasi jenama Volvo akan jatuh

    2) Volvo akan hilang keistimewaan dari segi percukaian dll insentif bg pasaran Eropah jika ia dibina di China untuk jualan Eropah

    saya rasa Geely akan terus mengoperasikan kilang mereka di Sweden tetapi dalam masa yang sama membuka kilang baru di China. Lagipun kerajaan China menetapkan perlunya pembinaan kilang di China bg menikmati keistimewaaan dr segi cukai dan insentif2 lain. So sy kira Geely akan membuka kilang di China utk tackle pasaran premium kenderaan di China. 300, 000 output setahun sy rasa ia lebih menjurus kepada permintaan domestik ( china ) dan bukan global. Apapun boleh jadi kilang di China akan menjadi pembekal utama kompenen sebelum dipasang di kilang di Sweden. Volvo hanya akan mula memindahkan ibu pejabatnya ke China jika Geely berjaya meyakinkan pengguna dunia Volvo masih berkualiti sungguhpun di bawah milikan baru. Maybe the next 5 year?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • WTF?? i was hoping Geely not able to secure the deal. But too bad. Bye Volvo

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • damn, volvo will be made in china? will they able to produce good quality?

    the lenovo thinkpad now (which are made in china) are very unreliable compared to the ibm days. will volvo be the same case?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • will the price of Volvo cars come down if the prod is moved to China?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

Add a comment

required

required