By John Horner
May 20, 2008 -
The Wall Street Journal [sub] reports Volvo's saying farväl to a third of the production workers at their last remaining Swedish factory. (The Belgian factory which makes Volvo's smaller vehicles is so far exempt from the cutbacks.) And no wonder. "Despite expansion in Russia and China, Volvo reported selling 22,000 fewer vehicles during the first quarter of this year compared with the same period a year ago." And there there's a sales mix shift to smaller, cheaper, less profitable vehicles and the weak U.S. dollar. It all adds up to a loss of "$151 million in the first quarter of this year, compared with a $94 million profit during the same quarter in 2007." Both are mouse nuts numbers in the Ford scheme of things, but Investor Kirk "The Lion of Las Vegas" Kerkorian's minion Jerome York recently opined that FoMoCo will probably jettison Volvo within 18 months. Ford says Volvo isn't for sale, forgetting to add "we constantly review the situation." Translation: yet.
Subscribe to Newsletter14 Responses to “ For Sale: One Slightly Abused Swedish Car Brand ”
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May 20th, 2008 at 8:16 am
I think Ford should sell Volvo to Tata. GM should sell Saab to Tata. Tata could combine the 2 brands as one. A Saab-Volvo brand could consolidate and make 1 strong brand.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Maybe they’re going to pull another Jaguar and make a phenomenal replacement for the current S60, and then look for a buyer?
May 20th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Tata’s got their hands full with Jaguar and with their collaboration with Fiat. I suspect Volvo will be snapped up by the Chinese.
What an eggroll-volting development.
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Perhaps Volvo AB will buy Volvo back.
Hey, I can dream…
May 20th, 2008 at 11:26 am
I got excited for a second because I thought this was going to be news that GM was selling Saab.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Any chance BMW will again try to acquire Volvo? Seemed pretty certain a few months back… I still think BMW should position Volvo as a competitor to the Accord, Camry, Altima and Passat to keep the precious BMW from sliding downmarket.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:58 am
This is all about mileage.
Its all about being SOMETHING special.
Its one thing to be known by all as the premium sports brands like BMW and be able to get away with 28 to 29 has the high end mpg.
But to have a generic car that blends in with the crowd at the mid range, not the best sports cars, not the best value, not the best mileage…just another middle of the road automobile, its all over.
Volvo at least USED to be every professor’s and teacher’s car.
It used to be THE safety car.
The bow tie of cars.
Today, its just another middle of the pack brand that stands for nothing special.
May 20th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Jonathon :
I got excited for a second because I thought this was going to be news that GM was selling Saab.
The title says “One Slightly Abused Swedish Car Brand” *not* “One Thoroughly Abused Swedish Car Brand”
May 20th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Ikea has all those huge showrooms. Maybe they can find room for Volvos! Of course then every Volvo would have to have a huge Designed in Sweden poster on it with tiny lettering somewhere else declaring made in china.
May 20th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Minor assembly required.