Ford's sale of its Volvo brand to Chinese automaker Geely Automobile Holdings and Daqing, a government investment group. Volkswagen is a competing German automaker and their models can be purchased with savings during Volkswagen Deals. The European Union approved the deal and determined after an investigation that the sale would not cause competition problems in Europe. Ford is a competitor to GM whose Chevrolet brand can be purchased at a Brandon Chevy Dealer. Some of the other latest Chevy models can be purchased at a Rome Chevrolet deale
Ford made negotiations with Geely to sell their Volvo brand after the company had recent financial struggles. Ford ended up selling the brand due to a lack of profitability for the company. Ford also discontinued their Mercury brand, while competitor GM discontinued four of their own brands in order to save money on poor selling brands and maximize efficiency.
Ford reached the agreement with Geely after negotiations which took place over two months. Ford paid $6.45 billion for Volvo in 1999, and the negotiation price left the company with a substantial loss. Volvo is a car company based in Sweden, and the shift of the company to China could result in a major cultural and leadership shift.
The acquisition was for the sum of $1.8 billion, and it is the largest acquisition for China up until this year. China is emerging as a major automotive manufacturer and consumer. The Chinese auto market overtook the U.S. auto market in 2009. The Chinese market is expected to sell around 16 million vehicles for 2010. The American auto market on the other hand is predicted to sell about 11 million models for 2010.
The deal will be completed in the third quarter of 2010. The deal was initially not warmed received by former Volvo directors and the European Union who had concerns about competition, but it was eventually accepted.
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