Ford Craves Opel's Leftovers

Even if some people believe that Chinese Geely is close to buying Volvo, there's no way to see that in the near future, at least not until Opel's situation gets clarified. What's the connection between Opel and Volvo? you might ask. Well, it appears that American parent company Ford wants to delay the sale of its Swedish unit until General Motors gets rid of Opel. Still can't get it? Ford wants to invite the losing Opel bidder to make a takeover proposal for Volvo...

This way, either RHJ or Magna could compete with the one who's currently considered the favorite company to purchase Volvo - Geely. But things are still unconfirmed, as Ford has denied to comment on the rumors, Reuters wrote today.

"Expect nothing to happen for another three to four weeks," a source familiar with the matter told the source, hinting that Ford is still waiting to see what's happening with Opel before taking a final decision.

As for Geely, the Chinese manufacturer yesterday received the approval from the country's National Development and Reform Commission to buy Volvo. According to earlier reports, Geely is ready to offer approximately $2 billion for the Swedish brand, money that will be exclusively used to tackle the negative effects of the economic recession.

But Geely is also fighting with Volvo's workers unions as they believe that a Chinese investor would do no good to their company. "How could you expect a less experienced Chinese owner to turn Volvo around if even Ford failed to do so?" Magnus Sundemo, head of Volvo Car Corporation engineers union, was quoted as saying a few days ago.