Ford has been quiet in its efforts to sell its Swedish unit Volvo , claiming that it is waiting for General Motors to finalize its sales of Opel and Saab , but the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker is apparently now in talks with a group of primarily Swedish investors interested in purchasing the brand.
Sweden’s Dagens Industri said that the group, called Konsortium Jakob AB, has apparently raised enough capital to buy the money-losing Volvo unit from Ford. Chinese automaker Geely has been considered the front-runner in the bidding process, though it is not believed that Ford has taken any official bids.
The consortium represents the engineering trade union at Volvo and the newspaper suggested that the Volvo truck unit, which has been a separate entity since 1998, is considering joining in the consortium – a theory debunked by Volvo Trucks.
“We take an interest in what happens with Volvo cars since we share their brand, but that’s where it ends,” Volvo Trucks spokesman Marten Wikforss told Reuters. “We don’t see ourselves as investors in the car industry.”
Volvo’s first production car, the ÖV 4, is often referred to as Jakob.
