Ford Eyes Chinese Buyer for Volvo

Ford's last European car on the block

By Peter Fearon, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 10, 2008 3:40 AM CST

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Ford Eyes Chinese Buyer for Volvo — The new 2009 Volvo XC 60 at the Los Angeles Auto Show last month. Ford is considering selling Volvo to a Chinese auto maker. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Beleaguered Ford is poised to sell Volvo to a Chinese automaker, reports the Times of London. Ford and Volvo executives are in talks with Changan, Ford’s manufacturing partner in China—one of the country’s biggest car makers. Over the last two years Ford has sold Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover, leaving Volvo—bought in 1999 for $6.5 billion—its last European subsidiary.

The sale talks come as Ford is fighting for survival alongside General Motors and Chrysler, although Ford officials repeated yesterday that the company still has enough cash to see it through 2009 as long as the economy doesn’t dive again. Another Chinese automaker is also rumored to be keeping a close eye on the Big Three’s fortunes.
(More Volvo stories.)

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