Still No Word on Volvo-Changan Deal

Even though the whole world is talking about a potential transaction between Ford and Changan Automobile Group, Ford does nothing more than ignore the speculations and declines to comment every single report regarding this matter. In short words, it all started on Tuesday when National Business Daily wrote that Changan, which is actually a Ford Chinese partner, entered negotiations with the American carmaker for a potential acquisition of Volvo.

However, Changan representatives denied the reports and explained that the Chinese company has absolutely no interest in purchasing Volvo for the time being.

"I told the National Business reporter that there is a chance that Changan might consider cross-border merger and acquisition eventually. It wasn't meant for the Volvo deal specifically. Chinese automakers will become global players some day but we are not strong enough now to make major oversea acquisitions and turn around distressed assets," a Chinese executive who preferred to remain anonymous told Reuters.

On the other hand, Ford refused to comment the speculation, without even denying recent reports. "We will not comment on speculation or rumors, nor will we comment on regular business discussions that we have with our partners," Ford said in a statement quoted by Autonews.

Although it may sound a bit surprising that Ford wants to sell Volvo, market analysts see it as an obvious move, in the context of global economic crisis. Basically, massively-affected companies aim to sell non-profitable assets to more financially-stable firms that could revamp sales and keep the brands on or above the floating line.

Volvo announced earlier this day that approximately 4,000 employees will by let go by the end of the year due to the same reason which pushed global companies close to bankruptcy: the economic crisis. Explaining that this is only a move of the company's cost-cutting plan, Volvo officials admitted that overseas subsidiaries may take similar decisions in the near future.