Geely is expected to submit a bid for the Swedish car maker as soon as next week, two people familiar with the situation said. There are at least three other possible bidders, one of which is also a Chinese company, according to one of the people.
A person close to Ford acknowledged the Chinese company had been in talks with Ford for more than a year over a possible Volvo deal.
Three European brands—General Motors Corp.‘s Saab and Opel, and Ford’s Volvo—have effectively been put on the block in recent weeks as the U.S. auto giants try to cut costs and restructure. (For more car-industry news, please see pages B2 and B3.)
A Geely bid for Volvo would be an unusual and risky move for a Chinese auto maker to take advantage of the global downturn and leap forward with its international ambitions.
Ford, struggling with one of the worst downturns in history for the U.S. auto industry, is streamlining its business by focusing on what it calls a “One Ford” strategy, emphasizing its Ford, Mercury and Lincoln brands that are built on common global production platforms.
If its planned bid is successful, Geely intends to maintain Volvo as an international brand, rather than turn it into one more focused on China, said one of the people familiar with the matter.
However, Geely might shift some production to China to take advantage of that nation’s less-expensive labor and reap other benefits.
Geely has begun working with a U.S.-based consulting firm to put together a list of possible managers who could run Volvo under Geely ownership, one of the two people said.
| 
|