Status of Ford’s Sale of Volvo to Geely (NYSE:F)

Ben McLannahan of the Financial Times' Lex commentary team talks with Bloomberg's Deirdre Bolton about Ford Motor Company’s (NYSE:F) sale of its Volvo Cars unit to Zhejiang Geely Holding Co. for $1.8 billion, marking the biggest overseas acquisition by a Chinese automaker.

McLannahan indicates this is a move not to tap US/Western markets, but rather to ramp up Volvo in China and increase sales there.  Volvo sold 50,000 units last year in China, which is not as good as the market leader for China’s premium car market (Audi) of 130,000.

Geely has taken nearly two years since Geely put in a speculative bid for Volvo from Ford, and McLannahan says that is for two reasons; 1) fears of loss of international property outside of the agreement and 2) fears over Geely’s status regarding finances.

See March 29 Bloomberg video below: