Volvo to Geely: Not True Unless Dearborn Says So

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

In a wild orgy of he-said-she-said-it-whispered, Chinese media, from China Daily, to Shanghai Daily, to car186.com, all the way to Motor Trend (with the help of the ever-so-reliable Google Translate), the MSM are busy reporting yesterday’s news of Geely buying Volvo. However, it’s no surprise of the connoisseur of the Chinese news cycle . . .

The China Business News (via Reuters) takes a contrarian view: “The parent of Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, Ford Motor and its Volvo car unit all issued statements on Wednesday denying media reports that the Chinese car maker had an initial agreement to buy the Swedish car maker from Ford.”

The official Volvo denial carries an interesting slant:

An announcement related to the sale of Volvo Car Corp. would only come from Ford Motor Company. As of today, neither Ford Motor Company nor Volvo Car Corporation in Sweden has made any announcement regarding the sale of Volvo. Reports of such a sale by any media outlet are speculative and, therefore, are not accurate.

Translation: Don’t believe anything unless it’s dateline Dearborn. Are we saying the reports are utterly baseless? No. Just “not accurate.”

As the camshaft spins . . .

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Stingray Stingray on Jun 18, 2009

    So we should interpret they're in "serious talks" then... Ummm, why Koenisegg (please forgive the spelling) doesn't buys Volvo too? It would make a better business case...

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