Volvo Sold

[427sharpe]

In a truly global world, Swedish car company Volvo, owned by American car company Ford, has been sold to Chinese car company Geely! Another one bites the dust. Having seen Chinese car quality first hand, I can't wait to see the soccer moms expressions to the first 'Geely/Volvo' to hit the shores! LOL

[Ron61]

I read that and had some thoughts along the same lines. Wonder what it will turn into now.

Ron

[computerworks]

Originally Posted by Ron61

Wonder what it will turn into now.

Well, to start, since (according to the reference books):

In Chinese, the letter ‹v› is missing, thus there is no sound [v] in Standard Mandarin for [v]

So, I guess a name-change is in order...

or, they start calling it the "Olo"

[joyridin']

Ford paid 6.45 billion, ran it into the ground, then sold it for 1.8 billion.

I think some Chinese company is grinning from tooth to tooth knowing they got one hell of a deal at the expense of another poorly run American car company.

Sad.

[VRM]

Well, you can always go to one of those Jaguar dealerships and admire all of the Tatas...

Steve

[Buzz]

I came across this on Focks News this morning, but it seems kinda fishy to me:

Breaking news: Earlier today it was announced that a subtle, almost imperceptible name change is in order for the once traditional and stodgy Swedish auto company. The "o"'s in Volvo will be changed to "u" and "a" respectively in a subliminal effort to spice up the brand's boring image.

[VRM]

Originally Posted by Buzz

I came across this on Focks News this morning, but it seems kinda fishy to me:

Boxy, but good...

[Gunner]

Originally Posted by joyridin'

Ford paid 6.45 billion, ran it into the ground, then sold it for 1.8 billion.

You're correct in your first and last clause. You're welcome to explain the middle one. Volvo was absolutely strangled by lack of R&D capital at the time Ford bought it and was deep into parts-bin engineering, with no new models or engineering in sight. After Ford funded them, they developed completely new models (I drive one of them), totally revamped looks, an expanded lineup and improved tech all around (their 300 HP 2.5L being one example - my wife drives that one).

Ford simply did what too many other companies did in the boom times, bought an asset at way too high a price. Now they're paying for it.

[joyridin']

Originally Posted by Gunner

You're correct in your first and last clause. You're welcome to explain the middle one. Volvo was absolutely strangled by lack of R&D capital at the time Ford bought it and was deep into parts-bin engineering, with no new models or engineering in sight. After Ford funded them, they developed completely new models (I drive one of them), totally revamped looks, an expanded lineup and improved tech all around (their 300 HP 2.5L being one example - my wife drives that one).

Ford simply did what too many other companies did in the boom times, bought an asset at way too high a price. Now they're paying for it.

You can say what you want, I'm not really sure, but you don't pay 6.45 billion for a company that is running off the parts bin, then turn around after fixing it and sell it for 1.8 billion. I agree that the timing many have been bad, but 5 billion dollars bad? There has to be something more to it.

[Gunner]

You don't read the financial page much, do you?

This sort of thing has been happening for the last few years - companies (usually software or intangibles companies) bought for heaps o' billions in the boom and sold off for pennies afterward. Ford simply overvalued what Volvo would bring to their 'premium car lineup,' just as it did with Aston-Martin. Even with all the expansion and improvements, the market was finite.