Ford Will Hang On to Volvo, 3Q Loss Narrows to $380,000,000

Washington DC November 9, 2007; The AIADA newsletter reported that with buyers lined up to bid for its Land Rover and Jaguar brands, Ford Motor said Thursday that it had decided to keep Volvo, at least for now, and would make an effort to fix the money-losing Swedish carmaker.

The New York Times reports that Ford's CEO, Alan R. Mulally, said the company was not seeking a buyer for Volvo, even though it had adopted a strategy of focusing on its core domestic brands as part of its North American turnaround.

"The plan right now is to fix it," Mr. Mulally said. Meanwhile, Ford said it expected to sell Land Rover and Jaguar by early 2008. The company did not name potential buyers, but preliminary offers were made by half a dozen companies, including TPG, a private investment group, and Tata Motors of India.

The comments about Volvo were one of two surprises Thursday from Ford. The company also reported a third-quarter loss of $380 million, far less than analysts were expecting and down from a loss of $5.2 billion in the same period last year.