Chinese Geely GT

Ten years after Ford acquired Volvo, it is being reported that a possible sale to either China’s biggest privately owned carmarker, Geely Holding Group Co., or two other potential bidders is picking up momentum.  For all of Ford’s recent success in light of the economic downturn, the automaker appears to be willing to sell the Swedish subsidiary for less than a third of what it paid a decade ago.   

Volvo XC90

Ford Motor Co. is seeking about $2 billion for Volvo, less than a third of what it originally paid for the company.  Although Ford lost over 14 billion dollars last year, it was the only major U.S. automaker to avoid seeking federal aid.  Ford’s shedding of Volvo is just the latest in a series of sell offs going back to their sale of Aston Martin for $931 million in May 2007 and last years sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to India’s Tata Motors for $2.4 billion.  Last December the carmaker put Volvo up for sale after the Swedish brand’s U.S. sales slid 31 percent.

Geely’s attempt to scoop up Volvo would be inline with company goals at boosting sales to 2 million units by 2015 from 219,512 units last year. To reach those figures, Geely has said it plans to unveil more than 40 new products over the next six years.