According to a report in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, China Geely Holding Group has made a loss-return plan for Ford ’s loss-making Volvo brand in its bidding and expects to double Volvo ’s annual sales to nearly 1 million.
The source quoted by the report as familiar with the situation said that Geely will build a factory in China with an annual capacity of 300,000 to take advantage of the potential of the Chinese market and cheap labor.
Sources also said that Geely's Hong Kong-listed company Geely Automobile will also add 2-3 large luxury models to Volvo in the next 3-4 years, hoping to boost its global sales.
At present, Geely plans to allow Volvo to undertake more complex engineering and technical tasks at its Swedish factory, or it can help ease local concerns about job losses.
Geely believes that Volvo has the potential to reach 200,000 units of annual sales in the Chinese market and 12,600 units of sales last year. Geely predicts that in 4-5 years, Volvo's annual global sales will be close to one million, and the current annual sales volume is about 400,000.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that Geely executives expect the acquisition transaction to be more complicated because of IPR issues.
According to sources, the questions include what kind of technology Ford will transfer to Geely, how Ford will continue to use Volvo's technology, and how the two companies will deal with possible future technological disputes.
Ford announced last month that Zhejiang Geely Holding Group had been selected as the preferred bidder for Volvo . Volvo’s existing production and R&D facilities, trade union agreements and dealer network will be retained, and Geely Automobile will begin more detailed negotiations with Ford.
Geely plans to lose nearly 1 million units for Volvo's losses