Several substantive issues remain however without response

Since yesterday, China has taken foot in the small world of the global automotive high. The Volvo brand will be in the hands of the Chinese manufacturer, Geely Automobile Holdings in the first quarter of 2010, confirmed yesterday the Ford group, which sought a buyer for one year. Less than three months after having named the firm of Hangzhou as its exclusive interlocutor for the purchase of its Swedish (no relation to the Group AB Volvo, manufacturer of trucks and public works), Ford stressed yesterday that all substantive issues had been an agreement between the two parties, paving the way for ratification in a few weeks. The amount of the sale was not disclosed, but it evokes a price of approximately $ 1.8 billion. Is 3 times less than the sum disbursed by Ford in 1999 to return to the firm of Gothenburg, which had then a much more limited range.

A real jewel

A masterful blow that will allow Geely to make a considerable technological leap, as rarely builders. Geely, which was won in 2000 its official licence to build cars, is virtually absent from the international scene. He then signed the largest acquisition of a Western constructor by a Chinese group. The SAIC Shanghainese certainly paid the remains of MG Rover, his colleague of Beijing BAIC comes from the drive for some licenses of Saab, and Tengzhong is about to acquire the American Hummer. But all this has nothing to do with the surface and the intrinsic value of Volvo. Known for its technology and its findings in active and passive safety, the firm of Gothenburg, which had previously escaped with Renault at the time of Louis Schweitzer, remains a jewel, despite its recent losses related to the crisis in the sector (-135 million in the third quarter).

With its range of ten main models, the Swedish is firmly established in the United States and monte in pace in China. Nothing to do with his compatriot Saab, confined to two models aging and who sells 4 times less cars than him.

Several substantive issues remain however without response. Why Devil Ford, in less serious financial trouble than GM or Chrysler (he even left the Red recently), he let its Swedish subsidiary and its valuable patents, at the risk of creating a formidable competitor in a few years The Chinese have never been mystery of their desire to export their vehicles in the medium term. In addition, Ford and Volvo vehicles share of many bodies and technologies, starting with the safety equipment. Why a brand as Volvo, which is less than 2 billion dollars, has not interest a Western constructor as PSA, that has been struggling in the top of range with its Peugeot 607 and Citroën C6 Finally, that will become the industrial assets of Volvo and its 20,000 employees The agreement yesterday does not, say although Geely has previously committed to leave factories, dealers and social agreements. Volvo has mainly two plants in Sweden, a site in Belgium and another more recent in China.

No more style than a Lada

With the passivity of its European counterparts or Japanese, Li Shufu, the founding President of Geely, must laugh under cape. Very modest extraction, this mechanical engineer turned first to the refrigerator and motorcycles has not yet succeeded in automotive. More known for their very low price (5,000 to 6,000 dollars) for their obscure blazon, the Geely have no style or assets that the more boring Lada in Russia. Present in the countryside, they are more difficult to place in the avenues in Beijing or Shanghai.

Like the Indian Tata Motors, which offered simultaneously Jaguar and Land Rover (also acquired from Ford), he must take care to maintain a "Chinese wall" between his marks Geely and Volvo, at the risk of permanently sinking its European Pearl.