“I think that there might be a reaction in the beginning, but then again Jaguar and Land Rover, they are now Indian owned and does it matter to them? I don’t think so,” Desselss was quoted as saying by GoAuto.
"When Ford originally bought Volvo back in 1998, the world was going to end then and it was all doom and gloom and Ford was actually very good for Volvo.”
The deal between Volvo's current owner, Ford, and the Chinese from Geely got an important boost in late November, when the two sides agreed on the intellectual rights. When the sale is finalized, the Chinese will get their hands on all of the technologies developed by the Swedish car manufacturer.
“As long as they do what they say they will do, and that is to invest in the brand and keep the models coming through, then that has got to be a major positive,” the managing director continued.
For Australian Volvo dealers, a switch of ownership in Chinese hands would be a good thing, as Geely has no dealership network of its own in the country and will have to rely on the existing one.
“Geely do not have an infrastructure, so it means the dealer network is safe, if I can use inverted commas for the word safe.”
There's no word yet on the date when the Volvo deal goes through, but the industry awaits something to happen in the near future.
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