Report: Volvo May Have a Chinese Buyer

While Ford has been quietly slipping under the radar as its two American competitors have been dealing with bankruptcy, the Dearborn-based company has been looking to offload another one of its brands. Ford’s Swedish Volvo brand has a Chinese suitor in the form of Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corporation.

With scraps of the Detroit Three widely available for sale, it seems Chinese car companies are desperately in the hunt for a piece of the U.S. market. Rumors circulated about interest in several American brands, including several firmer deals such as Sichuan Tengzhong’s deal to secure GM’s Hummer brand and now Ford’s Volvo brand potentially being purchased by Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corporation.

While the deal with BAIC looks promising– executives from the Chinese company are preparing to tour Volvo’s headquarters, research and development, and manufacturing facilities –it isn’t the first Chinese company to express interest in the Swedish brand. Several other well-known Chinese car companies, such as Geely Automobile Holdings, Ford’s China partner Chongqing Changan Automobile Company, and Chery Automobile all showed an interest in acquiring Volvo.

Earlier, BAIC showed an interest in GM’s Opel/Vauxhall brands before Canadian supplier Magna International and Russian Sberbank acquired at least GM’s Opel operations. BAIC currently builds only Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai cars at joint ventures with Daimler and Hyundai. The Chinese company is reportedly readying its first self-developed car for sale sometime in 2010.

Source: Wall Street Journal