Ford Looks to Sell Volvo to China

Final agreement with China's Geely expected early next year

(AP) - Ford says it is close to selling its loss-making Volvo unit to China's Geely and expects a final deal in the first quarter of next year. "All substantive commercial terms relating to the potential sale have been settled," Ford said in a statement. Ford chose Geely as the preferred bidder for Volvo in October. More»

(NEWSER) - The crash of the US auto market has sped up the global auto industry's shift toward emerging markets, and no one is better poised to take advantage than the Chinese, the Wall Street Journal reports. Geely, one of the few Chinese auto firms that operate without a foreign partner, has emerged as a frontrunner to buy Volvo from Ford and experts believe it could be selling its own models to the US in less than 5 years. More»

Deal with Geely estimated at $2B

(AP) - China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group has signed a binding deal to buy Ford Motor Co.'s Volvo Cars unit, a Volvo spokesman Per-Ake Froberg confirmed today. He could not disclose the value of the deal, saying details on the price tag and the financing would be disclosed at a news conference later today. Analysts have estimated the deal at about $2 billion. More»

(NEWSER) - Hoping to profit from its rivals' pain, Ford will ramp up this year's third-quarter production 10% over last year's, in a bid to grab market share from GM and Chrysler as they recover from bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reports. It’ll be Ford’s first production bump in nearly two years. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said a source from Ford, though he added, “No one is going to gift-wrap it for us. You have to deliver the product people want to buy.” More»

Automaker burns through cash but remains healthier than rivals

(NEWSER) - Ford announced today a loss of $1.4 billion for the first three months of 2009—its worst Q1 result in 17 years, but nevertheless one that beat expectations, Bloomberg reports. The automaker said it expected to break even or possibly turn a profit in 2011, and it would not seek any loans from the government as its rival Chrysler prepares for bankruptcy. Ford acknowledged today that it burned through $3.7 billion in cash as the auto crisis deepened. More»