Ford selling Volvo?

I read this morning that BMW is in talks with Ford to buy Volvo. Both
Ford and BMW had no comment.

Chuck Fiedler
Nothing but Volvo since 1974

 

Ford is looking to sell of all it's European makes to generate some
cash. It is in bad trouble. It stopped making its cash cow the Taurus
and introduced the Five Hundred which was still born beside the fact it
was a good car. Now they are rebadging the Five Hundred as the Taurus.
Detroit is in the business of selling images, not vehicles.

By the way,according to the labels on the car doors that list "percent
of parts made in the US, the most American "cars" are:

1. Ford F-150* Dearborn, Mich.; Kansas City, Mo.; Norfolk, Va. 1
2. Toyota Camry**, Camry Solara Georgetown, Ky. 3
3. Chevrolet Silverado 1500* Fort Wayne, Ind.; Pontiac, Mich. 2
4. Chevrolet Cobalt Lordstown, Ohio 5
5. Ford Explorer, Explorer Sport Trac Louisville, Ky.; St. Louis 6
6. Chevrolet Malibu, Malibu Maxx Kansas City, Kan. 7
7. Chevrolet TrailBlazer* Moraine, Ohio 10
8. Toyota Sienna Princeton, Ind. 9
9. Pontiac G6 Orion, Mich. --
10.Ford Escape** Kansas City, Mo. 8

*Rankings based on estimated sales breakouts and/or production data;
TrailBlazer excludes discontinued TrailBlazer EXT.
**Excludes hybrid.

However, this does not distinguish between US and Canadian content.

<http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp;jsessionid=NBZEEKPWMP3RTLAYIEYU2
VA?section=top&story=amMade1206&subject=more&referer=&aff=national>

Here are some makes that are NOT considered "American Made"

# Chevrolet Equinox
# Chevrolet HHR
# Chevrolet Impala
# Chevrolet Tahoe
# Chrysler 300
# Chrysler PT Cruiser
# Dodge Charger
# Ford Focus
# Ford Fusion
# Ford Mustang

<http://www.autosite.com/content/shared/articles/templates/index.cfm/arti
cle_id_int/1965>

 

I have got the impression, that selling images is what is the main business of
every big company nowadays. Product quality and customer satisfaction are
definitely secondary or tertiary issues.

Viktor

 

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,

I sincerely hope not - look what happened to Rover when BMW bought it!
--
Cheers,
Roger
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PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

 

OTOH, there could be RWD Volvos again. 8-]

 

What happened to it? Could the build quality really have gotten much worse?

 

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,

Well they didn't produce any RWD Rovers during their ownership!
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

 

Here is more on this:

Built at the Ingersoll plant in Ontario, Canada, the 2006 Chevrolet
Equinox could be the most un-American ³American² car on the road.
Consider that, in addition to its assembly north of the border, the
Equinox has a China-built V6 engine.

GM says that the 2006 Chevrolet HHR was inspired by the 1949 Suburban.
We wonder whether they built that SUV in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico as well.

The much-improved Impala, with more room and comfortable seats plus an
attractive style is Canadian.

The Tahoe debuted early this year to brisk sales, and may even find
itself as a serious contender for Truck of the Year. That¹s the good
news, along with the fact that it¹s built in Arlington, Texas and
Janesville, Wisconsin. Ah but the things they put inside, only 67
percent come from US-based suppliers.

The Chrysler 300, only the most well-received new sedan Chrysler has put
out in years from critics and consumers alike is about as American as
a Moose. Built in Brampton, Ontario, the 300 also gets just 72 percent
of its parts from US suppliers.

Built in Toluca, Mexico, the PT Cruiser was updated in 2006.

Like its brother, the Chrysler 300, the Dodge Charger is itself a big
buff Canadian that borrows its legacy from an American icon.

Built in the US but made of only 60 percent American parts, the Focus
could be considered at least ³near American.²

As the flag-waver for Ford¹s newest rallying cry, ³Red, White and Bold,²
it¹s interesting that the 2006 Ford Fusion is more a hue of green, white
and red, signifying its Mexican birthplace. Or maybe it¹s more red and
white, symbolizing its Mazda/Japanese roots.

According to the Act, cars must be made of 75 percent US parts, and the
Mustang registers at a paltry 65 percent, Canada included. At least
it¹s still assembled in Michigan.

Consider, though, that if you want to buy a more American car than the
Mustang the Mustang -- try the Camry, the Accord, the Avalon, the
Corolla

 

Oh I do hope so. Perhaps somebody will make progressive Volvos instead
of ridiculous pastiches with most of the old values sapped out.

 

I wont drive german cars so if this is true thats the end of my love affair
with Volvos, except those built previous to any possible takeover .
Just as a matter of interest would a volvo bmw have no indicators as it
seems bmw indicators dont seem to work ever ?

 

What a strange idea.

By Ford?

 

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,

Dunno - but hopefully they'd have no daytime running lights!
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

 

Is a car that is designed in Sweden and built in Sweden and Belgium,
with Japanese transmissions, German. I don't think so. I don't think
the present Volvo is American either. Ford's only contribution was
adding the V-8 engines which I avoid like the plague.

 

In my fantasy world a Swedish industrialist would buy Saab and Volvo and
turn them into great companies with a strong Scandinavian viewpoint.
Not going to happen, but would be nice.

 

Steve, what is wrong with the Yamaha V8 ? I have never read anything bad
about the engine, apart from the fuel consumption, Rob

 

Too bad you feel as you do about the V8. We have one (XC90) and it's
incredible --- great power, very reliable, and decent gas mileage (24MPG
highway, which is better than the 3.2 6cyl XC90 that we drove --- the V8
prob doesn't have to work as hard). My understanding was that the V8 was
not made in US but in China or Japan or some such. At any rate, we love it
and would buy another. 'Bout time Volvo did a V8.

 

Made in Japan by Yamaha. It is a further development of the engine
design Yamaha used to build for the Ford Taurus SHO.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Yamaha_V8_engine

 

I hope BMW will suceed

 

BMW would be a far better owner for Volvo than Ford is, I think. But
one must wonder what exactly BMW wants with Volvo? Perhaps as it's
FWD/AWD brand? Would we see Volvos being made in the US BMW plant?

I wonder if BMW would pay Ford as much for Volvo as Ford paid BMW for
Land Rover a few years back.

Strange times indeed.

CNN just ran a story on this as well:



http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/28/news/companies/ford_volvo.reut/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote

 

I understand the 5 cylinder FWD engine is a BMW design, at Volvo request.

joe