So Who'll Be Sold Soon? Saab Or Volvo?

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: December 22nd, 2009

Two sales of two Swedish car factories are close to the finish line. One may live on happily, but in a foreign land. The other may die from exhaustion. You want the good news or the bad news first? Ok, let’s start with the good news.

Ford’s Volvo deal is as good as decided, and the winner is Geely, writes Financial Times Germany. Both sides are in agreement about all key points, what’s left to do is to sign the contract. According to “several persons who are part of the negotiations,” there are some details to be cleared regarding intellectual property and whether the plants in Sweden and Belgium will be kept open. “The talks are progressing well on Volvo,” Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally said. “Hopefully, we’ll have something to announce soon.” Financial Times has it on good authority that Geely is willing to pay a bit less that $2b for Volvo. All other bidders appear to be out of the running. A deal could be reached before New Year. The Western, or the Chinese. Prediction: The deal will close.

Now, the not so good news: Saab still isn’t officially dead yet. Spyker has presented its last-minute-plans for Saab in Sweden. Saab’s workers’ council chief Paul Akerlund confirmed that Spyker’s Managing Director Victor Müller has presented his plans to the current Saab management, to the unions, and to the worker’s council, say Automobilwoche [sub]. (Shouldn’t he present them to GM?) Akerlund reckons the plans are very respectable“and are worthy of the support of Sweden’s government. (What else should he say?) GM promised to take a look at the plans. One deciding factor is that Sweden’s government will underwrite a loan. Sweden had asked the EU to look into the case to make sure the guarantee won’t be considered as improper state aid. Last we heard, the EU was still looking. Prediction: The deal will fall in the perception gap, and die.

#BertelSchmitt #China #Saab #Sweden #Volvo

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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AnthonyG on Dec 23, 2009

The current s80 is a Mondeo - the current Mondeo is much bigger than the first one ( the Contour). The platform in Fordspeak is EUCD (European c/d class) The c30/c70/s40/v50 is a Focus (C1) . The current s60 is on a D3 Platform, the next will be EUCD. The xc60 is EUCD and the xc90 is D3.

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AnthonyG on Dec 23, 2009

Ford's just announced it has reached agreement with Geely, selling Volvo for about $2.5bn

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