The Wall Street Journal reports, "Ford Motor Co. is cutting production at its Volvo unit as a way to trim the costs and losses at the upscale Swedish brand. The production cut, which could affect one-third of workers at one of its two Volvo plants in Europe, comes amid speculation that Ford is priming Volvo for a sale." Ford denies that it plans to sell Volvo, but one of its largest investors "endorsed the idea of a sale earlier this month, saying he believed [Ford] would shed Volvo some time in the next 18 months."
Autoblog comments, "The way things look now, we'd be surprised if it took that long." Over the last two years, "the once smiling Swede has lost $1.7 billion, part of which is due to exchange rates, and another is due to selling fewer cars." Though it was once known for safe sedans, Volvo has increasingly relied on SUV sales to make a profit in recent years.
Earlier this year, Ford sold luxury makes Jaguar and Land Rover to India's Tata Motors. But who would consider buying Volvo?
AOL's Blogging Buyouts reminds us that "It was nearly a year ago that speculation ran amok that German carmaker BMW could be interested in buying Volvo." Ford may be hoping that BMW can be lured into a deal. If not, with most automakers losing money and seeking leaner operations, it isn't clear who would be interested in buying a struggling brand.
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