Fil de presse - Volvo

[MissB]

Les chinois favoris pour la reprise de Volvo

Ford va engager des négociations «plus approfondies et précises» avec le chinois Geely pour la reprise de sa filiale suédoise.

Après les fameux 4x4 Hummer vendus par General Motors au groupe Tengzhong, Volvo pourrait bientôt passer également sous pavillon chinois. Ford, le propriétaire de la marque, vient en effet d'engager «des négociations plus approfondies et précises avec le chinois» en vue de la cession de sa marque. Le processus de cession, amorcé il y a un an, vise avant tout à un recentrage de l'activité du groupe sur sa marque phare, afin de redevenir bénéficiaire en 2011.
Ford a semble-t-il arrêté son choix.«Geely a le potentiel pour être un future propriétaire responsable de Volvo (...) tout en préservant les valeurs et l'indépendence de la marque suédoise», a justifié le vice-président et directeur financier de Ford, Lewis Booth. Le PDG de Volvo, Stephen Odell, semble lui satisfait de cette avancée, la qualifiant de «positive».
Il a ainsi convaincu l'Américain, face aux offres d'un autre chinois, Beijing Automotive et d'un consortium américain mené par un ancien directeur de Ford. Reste que la partie n'est pas encore jouée. Il suffit de voir la tournure des évènements dans le cas Opel pour en être convaincu. Ford a ainsi précisé que «bien que des négociations plus approfondies et précises seront engagées avec Geely, aucune décision définitive n'a été prise». Aucun calendrier n'est en outre prévu. Seule certitude énoncée par Ford: à l'issue de la cession, ce dernier ne serait plus du tout engagé dans le groupe suédois.
En terme financier, l‘aventure Volvo pourrait bien avoir été, sur une échelle de temps d'une dizaine d'année, une bien mauvaise affaire. Acquise en 1999 pour 6.5 milliards de dollars, elle pourrait, selon la presse être vendue un montant approchant les 2 milliards de dollars.

Source: http://www.lefigaro.fr/societes/2009...-de-volvo-.php

[xc 70 05]

Maintenant que G.M. ne vend plus Opel........une idée me passe par la tete,pourquoi Magna ne pourait'il pas acheté VOLVO......et bye bye les tinois....

[kearmith]

salut

Maintenant que G.M. ne vend plus Opel........une idée me passe par la tete,pourquoi Magna ne pourait'il pas acheté VOLVO......et bye bye les tinois....

C'est à peu près ce que j'ai écris sur le forum de Radio-Canada

[MissB]

Lead Volvo Bidder Plans Fancier Models in China

Lead Volvo Bidder Plans Fancier Models in China
Chinese bidder for Ford unit would target sales of nearly one million vehicles a year
BEIJING—China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., chosen last month as lead bidder for Ford Motor Co.'s Volvo unit, has developed a turnaround plan in which the money-losing Swedish auto maker would sell nearly one million vehicles a year. The plan centers on China but also sets ambitious goals for Volvo's traditional markets of Europe and North America.

Geely executives see a long slog to seal the deal, however, a process complicated by intellectual-property issues, according to a person close to Geely.

The person confirmed that Geely, one of China's biggest privately owned auto makers, is financing a roughly $2 billon bid for Volvo with a combination of cash, bank loans and funds from a small number of investors. He said those investors include a government-owned fund based in Tianjin, China, and a relatively well-known foreign investor. The person didn't give details.

Under its plans for Volvo, Geely would build a new Volvo plant in China capable of producing 300,000 vehicles a year as it looks to draw on China's market potential and inexpensive labor to raise sales and cut costs. But for now it is ceding more sophisticated engineering to Volvo's Swedish operations, an aspect of the plan that could help allay fears of lost jobs in Sweden.

Geely believes Volvo has the potential to sell 200,000 cars a year in China, up from 12,600 vehicles last year. It forecasts selling nearly one million cars a year globally within four or five years, compared with recent annual sales of about 400,000 vehicles. Geely wants to use Volvo's manufacturing capacity fully in Europe to sell 600,000 vehicles there and in North America.

Geely, whose Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. unit lists shares in Hong Kong, also would add two or three bigger, more luxurious cars to Volvo's lineup over the next three to four years, which it hopes would boost global sales, the person said.

"Time and again Geely has accomplished what others said was not possible," said Michael Dunne, an independent auto analyst. "But to boost sales in North America and Europe to 600,000, Geely is going to have to find a way to take a company that is losing money and market share in mature markets and turn it completely around. That would require a stroke of genius."

First, of course, Geely has to seal the deal.

The talks could still drag on a few more months, the person close to the auto maker said. Among the chief impediments is tension between Ford and Geely over how to handle certain intellectual-property rights. Ford acquired Volvo in 1999 for $6.4 billion and decided to sell last year as the Swedish unit posted losses. At issue, the person said, are which technology Ford would transfer to Geely, how Ford would continue to use Volvo technology and how the two companies would handle any possible disputes over technology down the road. He said the two sides have agreed on "rough mechanisms" to resolve such problems.

Geely is bidding with a group of investors. But the person close to the company said Geely would take a sizable stake in Volvo in a deal that is likely to be the most ambitious international expansion so far by a Chinese car maker.

Another obstacle could be continued competition in the bidding for Volvo from the Crown consortium led by former Ford director Michael Dingman and former Ford and Chrysler Group LLC executive Shamel Rushwin, which is believed to still be holding talks with Ford.

A former Ford executive who has been advising the Crown group declined to say whether the Detroit-based consortium has still been talking to Ford about Volvo since Geely was tapped as the preferred bidder. But he said the Crown group remains interested. "Yes, we're still interested absolutely, and we've let them know we are still interested."

Ford said the company is focusing on talks with Geely and has declined to discuss details of those discussions. "Our goal is to reach an agreement with Geely," a Ford spokesman said. He declined to comment on other potential bidders.

The person close to Geely said a clear advantage that the company has over the Crown group is Geely's experience in China's auto market, which is poised to surpass the U.S. as the world's biggest auto market this year with sales possibly reaching 12 million vehicles. "Without China's potential fully tapped, there is no future for Volvo and you can't succeed. China is the golden egg for Volvo," he said.

The Crown group adviser said the consortium expects part of its business plan would be "to really leverage growth in China."

The person close to Geely said it believes Volvo's current cars aren't sufficiently upscale to impress rich Chinese consumers and wants to add two or three "grander" and "more spectacular" models over the next three to four years.

He said it will seek to retain Volvo's traditional character, "but we want Volvo cars to look spectacular and impressive," to put them in the same league as Volkswagen AG's Audi A6 sedan, a symbol of success in China. Audi stretched the model for China to make the back seat bigger and more comfortable since most well-to-do customers in the nation have chauffeurs.

Yale Zhang, a Shanghai-based senior analyst with U.S. consulting firm CSM Worldwide, said demand for near-luxury cars is poised to take off in China over the next four to five years as current owners of Honda Motor Co.'s Accord and Volkswagen's Passat trade up.

Geely also wants to set up a Volvo tech center in China to help Volvo speed product development and cut research-and-development costs significantly by tapping low-cost Chinese engineers for basic engineering tasks. More-seasoned Volvo engineers in Sweden would do high-concept work.

Source: Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703808904574527480072025844.html

[MissB]

Si c'est vrai ... c'est encourageant

New buyer interest to bid in Volvo sale

A further two consortiums are set to compete with China’s Geely, the front runner to purchase Volvo Cars from Ford, and are expected to submit offers in the coming week.


Ford has previously indicated that Geely is the preferred choice to take over the Sweden-based company, which continues to show losses.

According to newspaper Dagens Industri, the US consortium Crown will make an offer in the next seven days with half of its capital coming from Swedish investors.

Crown is led by American Michael Dingman who brings 21 years of experience as a board member of the US-based Ford.

Dingman is joined in the consortium by advisor and former Volvo CEO Roger Holtback.

Whilst the Geely bid is estimated to be valued over $2 billion no details have yet been released of the Crown consortium’s counter offer.

A third party, the Jakob Consortium, dominated by Swedish investors has also pledged an interest in the buy out.

Losses for Volvo Cars continue to shrink. In November, the company posted their best quarter result of the year, losing $135 million compared with the $458 million it reported lost in the same period of 2008.

TT/Christine Demsteader (news@thelocal.se)


Source: http://www.thelocal.se/23404/20091121/

[240_brick]

Feww, au moins les Chinois ne l'auront pas sans se battre

[MissB]

Ford et Geely parviennent à un accord sur les droits de propriété intellectuelle

J'pense que ça va mal :-(

Cession de Volvo
Ford et Geely parviennent à un accord sur les droits de propriété intellectuelle

On le sait, depuis que le chinois Geely a été officiellement déclaré favori des candidats à la reprise du suédois Volvo, les négociations avec le parent Ford Motor Company achoppe sur la question des droits de propriété intellectuelle.

De manière fort compréhensible, Geely est intéressé par le savoir-faire du constructeur suédois. Tandis que Ford, de son côté, n'est pas prêt de laisser filer son expert en matière de sécurité passive... Sans parler de la question du partage des moteurs Diesel PSA-Ford.

Dernier développement en date, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group et Ford Motor Co. sont parvenus aujourd'hui (27 novembre) à un accord concernant les droits de propriété intellectuelle. Un pas décisif vers la cession complète et définitive de Volvo.

Le schéma sera le suivant : si la vente a bien lieu, Geely fera l'acquisition des droits sur tous les systèmes développés par Volvo en solo ; en revanche, les technologies Ford ne lui seront accessibles que dans le cadre d'un contrat distinct.

De son côté, Volvo conservera un accès "à toutes les technologies Ford capitales pour son avenir et son développement". Autrement dit : les petites Volvo à venir continueront à bénéficier, entre autres, des petites motorisations développées par Ford. Seul ou bien en collaboration avec Peugeot.

La signature de cet accord est un événement de taille. Non seulement pour l'avenir de Volvo, mais aussi dans l'histoire de l'industrie automobile. Pour la première fois en effet, un constructeur chinois s'entend avec un européen autour de la question délicate des brevets. On sait que c'est elle qui a empêché Beijing Auto de parvenir à ses fins et à prendre le contrôle d'Opel, plus tôt dans l'année.

Source: http://auto.nouvelobs.com/actualites...lvo/breve.html

[MissB]

Recherche de financement en vue de l'acquisition

Le chinois Geely veut emprunter $1 milliard pour reprendre Volvo

mardi 1 décembre 2009 11h54

HONG KONG, 1er décembre (Reuters) - Le constructeur chinois Geely, favori pour la reprise de Volvo, une filiale de Ford, cherche à obtenir au moins un milliard de dollars (663 millions d'euros) sous la forme de prêts auprès de banques chinoises afin de financer son offre de 1,8 milliard de dollars, a-t-on appris mardi.
Geely souhaite utiliser les technologies innovantes de la marque suédoise afin d'améliorer sa gamme de voitures et de continuer à se développer sur le marché chinois, premier marché automobile du monde.

Source: http://fr.reuters.com/article/frEuro...5B00Z520091201

[kearmith]

salut

Effectivement, cela va très mal...

[krusty240]

En ce qui me concerne ça a commencé à aller mal quand volvo est devenue américaine... fais que chinois hindou ou palestinien.... kossé que ça change?

[240_brick]

Moi je pense que peu importe qui achète Volvo il devrait ressortir les plans de la 240 et en faire une version hybride. Moi je serais le premier devant la porte pour l'acheter.

[krusty240]

Moi je pense que peu importe qui achète Volvo il devrait ressortir les plans de la 240 et en faire une version hybride. Moi je serais le premier devant la porte pour l'acheter.

Oh yeah!

[MissB]

Offre révisée des anciens dirigeants de Ford

Selon le Wall Street Journal, un groupe emmené par d'anciens dirigeants de Ford a présenté cette semaine une offre révisée pour la filiale Volvo du constructeur américain et espère devancer la proposition du chinois Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.

Un groupe emmené par d'anciens dirigeants de Ford a présenté cette semaine une offre révisée pour la filiale Volvo du constructeur américain et espère devancer la proposition du chinois Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, rapporte le Wall Street Journal.

Le groupe, appelé Crown Consortium, est conduit par un ancien membre du conseil d'administration de Ford Michael Dingman, et par un cadre de Ford et de Chrysler Shamel Rushwin, précise le quotidien qui cite des sources au fait du dossier.

Ford n'était pas joignable dans l'immédiat pour commenter ces informations.

Le journal a indiqué que ses sources avaient refusé de préciser le montant de la proposition de Crown mais elles l'ont présentée comme similaire à l'offre de Geely.

Fin octobre, Ford a désigné le constructeur automobile chinois, qui offre 1,8 milliard de dollars (1,2 milliard d'euros) pour Volvo, comme le candidat privilégié pour sa filiale suédoise déficitaire.

[MissB]

Annonce imminente à propos de la cession de Volvo par Ford

D’après le Financial Times, Ford Motors pourrait annoncer très rapidement une issue aux négociations avec le chinois Zhejiang Geely Holding à propos du rachat de Volvo. Selon des sources proches du dossier, un accord est imminent, seuls quelques points restent à régler. La transaction s’élèverait à un peu moins de 2 milliards de dollars. Pour le Financial Times, elle pourrait être annoncée dans les jours prochains.
Le gouvernement suédois suit ce dossier de très près, de la même manière que celui de son compatriote Saab qui est actuellement âprement négocié par le néerlandais Skyper Cars. General Motors avait annoncé vendredi dernier la fermeture de la marque à défaut de repreneur sérieux. Skyper Cars avait relancé une offre quelques jours après.
Stockholm entend peser dans les négociations afin de sauver les meubles de ces deux constructeurs emblématiques de l’histoire de l’industrie automobile suédoise.
Ford Motors est engagé dans un programme de restructuration très important. Pas plus tard que ce matin, le constructeur automobile américain a lancé un plan social de 41 000 départs volontaires (lire notre article).

Source: http://www.easybourse.com/bourse/inf...par-ford-14038

[MissB]

Ford Motor Co (F.N) and China's Geely are set to report progress as soon as Wednesday

* Progress report intended to help Geely clear deal
* Ford sale of Volvo expected to close in early 2010
(Adds detail on Ford position, history of talks, other China deals, Saab, bylines)
By Jui Chakravorty and Kevin Krolicki
NEW YORK/DETROIT, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) and China's Geely are set to report progress as soon as Wednesday in talks to sell Ford's Volvo unit to the Chinese automaker, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Both sides expect a sale of the Swedish auto brand to close in early 2010, they added.
The unusual update planned on the closed-door negotiations is intended to help Geely clinch financing and to speed approval from the Chinese government by sending a signal that both sides are closing in on a deal, according to the people who were not authorized to discuss the talks.
China's largest private automaker, Geely, is keen on acquiring modern technology to upgrade its car line-up and bring it closer to becoming a global competitor.
For Ford, closing the sale would provide it with cash it could use toward Chief Executive Alan Mulally's goal of speeding up debt repayment as the automaker moves toward profitability it has projected for 2011.
Ford was the only U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy and a U.S. government bailout thanks to the $27 billion borrowing program it completed before the crushing decline for the U.S. auto market that began in 2008.
Helped by government subsidies, the Chinese car market overtook the United States as the world's largest earlier this year and is expected to build on that in 2010.
U.S. auto sales, by contrast, collapsed in 2009 to the lowest since 1970 at about 10.3 million vehicles and are expected to partially rebound next year.
Ford's progress toward a sale comes as its traditional rival, General Motors Co [GM.UL], moves closer to abandoning Saab, its rival Swedish car brand. [nNLDE5BL0D]
GM said last week it had been unable to reach a deal with Dutch luxury car builder Spyker Cars NV (SPYKR.AS) and would wind down the 60-year-old Saab brand.
Spyker revived talks to buy Saab this week, but it remains highly uncertain whether the two sides can reach an agreement by GM's year-end deadline, a person familiar with those talks said on Tuesday.
Volvo, known for its safety engineering, has been the more successful brand by far. It outsold Saab four-to-one in 2008, with global sales of nearly 375,000 vehicles.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AN ISSUE
One of the outstanding issues in the discussions between Ford and Geely has been how to treat the intellectual property the U.S. automaker would transfer in a sale of Volvo, the sources said.
With access to financing and a booming market, Chinese automakers have been kicking the tires in Detroit for the past few years, but deals have been limited and slow to close.
Earlier this month, Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co, China's fifth-largest automaker, acquired some of Saab's assets, including intellectual property for the 9-5 and 9-3 sedan platforms and tooling from GM.
A separate deal by GM to sell its Hummer SUV brand to a group led by Chinese equipment maker Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery has been delayed because of a review by the Chinese government.
Ford CEO Mulally said last week the Volvo talks with Geely were "progressing well" and Ford expected to have an announcement soon.
"We haven't put any timetable because they are very sophisticated conversations and we want to make sure we get it right for both parties," Mulally said on Friday.
Ford and Geely have not disclosed a price for Volvo, but sources with knowledge of the deal have put it closer to $2 billion than the $6.45 billion Ford paid in 1999.
Ford wrote down the value of Volvo by $2.4 billion following a review of the brand's prospects in January 2008.
Ford picked the parent company of Hong Kong-listed Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd (0175.HK) as its preferred bidder for Volvo in October.
At least three major Chinese banks have agreed to extend loans to Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, including Bank of China Ltd (601988.SS), China Construction Bank Corp (0939.HK) (601939.SS) and Export-Import Bank of China, sources have said.
Citigroup Inc (C.N) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) are advising Ford. Rothschild [ROT.UL] is advising Geely. (Additional reporting by Bernie Woodall; editing by Andre Grenon)

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN...pe=marketsNews