Volvo Facts
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — US auto giant Ford Motor Company announced on Wednesday it had agreed terms to sell its subsidiary Volvo Cars to China’s Geely Automobile for a reported US$2 billion (euro1.4 billion )
The deal, expected to be completed early next year, will end Ford’s decade-long association with the Swedish brand.
Here are some key facts about Volvo:
* Its headquarters are based in Gothenburg, western Sweden. The company’s current chief executive is Briton Stephen Odell.
* The first Volvo car came off the assembly line in April 14, 1927.
* US giant Ford snapped up Volvo Cars in 1999 for 6.45 billion dollars from truckmaker Volvo Group as it amassed a wealth of upmarket brands including British luxury marques Jaguar and Land Rover.
* Ford’s aim in buying Volvo was to compete with BMW and Mercedes-Benz but also to achieve better economies of scale by sharing research and development costs.
* Volvo posted a pre-tax loss of US$1.46 billion (euro1 billion) in 2008, according to Ford’s financial report from that year. The company last made a profit in 2005 when it earned US$377 million.
* Analysts say unfavourable exchange rates, rising petrol prices and other car companies catching up on safety standards — where the Swedish brand had built a strong reputation — hit Volvo’s sales.
* Volvo Cars sold 374,297 vehicles in 2008, a fall of 18.3 per cent from the previous year.
* Volvo built just over 366,000 cars last year. 177,000 of those were made in Sweden.
* Volvo Cars employed some 20,000 people worldwide at the start of 2009.