Ford is in talks to sell Volvo to Chinese carmaker Geely, according to Bloomberg News.
Geely, which makes London black cabs in a joint venture with Manganese Bronze, is likely to buy Volvo for less than the $6.4bn (£4.4bn) Ford paid for the Swedish carmaker in 1999.
The company would be interested in buying Volvo despite the dramatic fall in European and US car sales, because it is cheaper and faster for Geely to acquire a business with new technology and access to foreign markets than to develop them from scratch.
Ford has also reportedly approached China’s Chery Automobile and Chongqing Changan Automobile about Volvo. The Chinese government has given permission for Geely to look at the acquisition, and has commitments from Export-Import Bank of China to provide funding for the deal.
Ford sold British luxury car brands Jaguar and Land Rover to Indian carmaker Tata last year, and disposed of Aston Martin in 2007.
The sale of Volvo would mark the end of Ford’s unsuccessful strategy to make a third of profits from high-end brands. The company is trying to raise money to avoid taking a state bail-out, as fellow US carmakers General Motors and Chrysler have been forced to do.
Car sales in Ford’s home market have plunged because of the recession, and it reported a $14.6bn loss last year.
Volvo’s trucks business is still a separately-listed company in Sweden.
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