- Volvo's CEO said in an interview that the Swedish automaker, owned by China's Geely, is looking for a partner to share future small-car platforms and components.
- Volvo was acquired in 2010 from Ford Motor by Chinese automaker Geely.
LONDON — Swedish automaker Volvo Car is looking for a partner to help it develop future small cars, CEO Stefan Jacoby said.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Jacoby said, "We are open for partners. We are open for collaboration in a win-win situation for sharing platforms, for sharing engines, and for a general higher scale of economics."
Jacoby, a former executive with Volkswagen, added that "no decision has been made" by Volvo regarding a potential partner.
Volvo was acquired in 2010 from Ford Motor by Chinese automaker Geely. Last year, it built and sold just under 450,000 cars.
Volvo's smallest car, the C30, is based on the platform of the Ford Focus.
Other European automakers have forged similar platform-sharing partnerships, notably PSA Peugeot Citroen and Toyota and, more recently, Daimler and the Renault-Nissan alliance.
Inside Line says: It's unclear if Volvo is looking for a prospective partner in Europe or Asia.
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lotusboy says:
08:32 AM, 01/26/2012
Recommend the platform of C4
qdp says:
04:02 PM, 01/24/2012
Too later and niche auto makers have few choices for partners.
woochifer says:
12:50 PM, 01/24/2012
First off, the C1 platform that Volvo currently uses for its small cars is not the "Ford Focus" platform per se, given that Ford, Mazda, and Volvo jointly developed that platform. In fact, Ford didn't even use the C1 platform for the Focus models in North America until the 2011 update. Mazda has used that platform since 2004 for the Mazda3 (and Mazda5 beginning in 2006), and Volvo also introduced the C1-based S40 and V50 models in 2004.
I would guess that Volvo is looking for a development partner for something beyond the next development cycle, given that the C1 platform remains quite competitive. One potential issue that I can think of is sharing technology with a Chinese-owned company. GM's reluctance to grant access to its platform and drivetrain technology is what scuttled Saab's acquisition by a Chinese buyer. What would Geely-owned Volvo have to offer any potential development partner?
Mazda would seem like possibility for working with Volvo, given that both companies used to be under Ford's corporate umbrella and their engineering teams have already worked together in the past. Mazda is looking for its own development partner moving forward, and the company has its eye on the China market, where Geely would be a potential development, manufacturing, and/or distribution partner. Other companies like GM and VW already have a sizable footprint in China, so Geely would be less of a strategic fit.
rush2meh says:
11:32 AM, 01/24/2012
Amazing. Check out the video for Toyota's Virtual Booth from the NAIAS auto show. Click below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVCNbXknUxg
hotrodw says:
09:56 AM, 01/24/2012
lookatmyshoes says:
"What really surprises me why the new Volvo owners didn't negotiate with Ford a small platform development joint agreement."
In hindsight they probably should have. But since Geely itself is a manufacturer, I assumed at the time the deal was done that the long-term plan was to integrate the product lines. Maybe they came to the conclusion that Geely isn't ready for that.
ed341 says:
09:51 AM, 01/24/2012
Why didn't they just go with the current gen Mazda 3, since they used to original 3 for the second gen S40. Although the S40 does depress me everytime I see one...
lookatmyshoes says:
09:45 AM, 01/24/2012
I will rule out completely an Korean manufacturer.... Mazda will be a good match imagine the great driving of Mazda with the refinement of a Volvo would be great but I don't think this is going to happen.
What really surprises me why the new Volvo owners didn't negotiated with Ford a small platform development joint agreement by now Volvo would have launched a fiesta and focus based Volvos and with the great design of recent Volvos this could have been a huge success.
hotrodw says:
09:21 AM, 01/24/2012
Kinda late in the product cycle to be looking for a partner, isn't it? Hyundai certainly has a lot of resources to offer, and Mitsubishi has expressed similar eco-friendly goals. And then there's Mazda, who after splitting from Ford is also working on a replacement for the Focus-based Mazda3. I can't see VW showing any interest, or they would have just made a bid for the brand themselves.
But what exactly does Volvo bring to the party? CitySafe and possibly some other safety technologies? Not sure how important that is since everybody seems to be building safe cars these days.