时事资讯:吉利在沃尔沃竞购赛中领先_时事

时事资讯:吉利在沃尔沃竞购赛中领先

Volvo's technology is becoming a critical feature of the negotiations, say the people familiar with the matter. Volvo contributes collision warning systems, passenger-restraint technology and other safety equipment used by Ford and its other brands. Ford fears it could be handing over that technology to a company that is expected to become a direct competitor in Europe and North America. Ford officials continue to mull whether the technology 'could bleed all over the place,' said one person familiar with the negotiations.

Another sticking point has been a preference by Geely and other Chinese automakers to acquire only a portion of Volvo, while Ford has been adamant it wants to part with 100% of the unit. Originally Geely hoped that Ford would retain at least a 25% stake in Volvo, but Ford has declined to budge, according to a person briefed on the matter. The other remaining bidder is China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., also known as SAIC Motor.

One challenge for Ford: Pulling Volvo out of its operations, having deeply integrated the two since Volvo's purchase for $6.4 billion in 1999.

Through August of this year, Volvo sold 42,013 vehicles in the U.S., long considered its most important market. That's down almost 25% percent from the same period in 2008. For all of 2008, Volvo sold 73,102 vehicles in the U.S.

Ford put Volvo on the block last December, with J.P. Morgan Chase Co. handling the sale. 'We expected this to be a pretty long process because of the environment we're working in,' Ford Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth said in an interview this month. 'We haven't got an explicit timetable. We're still talking to interested parties. We're working through the options.'