Geely plans to launch up to three new luxury Volvo models within four years of taking over the firm from Ford, according to company sources.
Sources close to the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which is Ford’s preferred bidder for Volvo, told the Wall Street Journal that the firm would sell two or three bigger, more luxurious cars within the next four years to try and boost global sales.
As part of Geely’s restructuring plan for Volvo, it plans to boost global sales to more than one million units per year. Volvo’s current sales are around 400,000 units per year, but Geely plans to more than double this number within five years.
To achieve this, it plans to build a new plant in China with the capability of producing 300,000 units per year. The firm predicts that Volvo could sell up to 200,000 units per year in China a year. Last year, it sold 12,600 units.
Geely’s offer for Volvo is believed to be around two billion euro (£1.2bn), but the sources claim the sale will be long and drawn out due to issues over intellectual property rights.
The issues are what Ford intellectual would transfer to Volvo and how Ford would continue to use Volvo intellectual property, including its pioneering safety technology. The two will also decide how to sort out any future intellectual property issues, which may occur later.
Thanks to: Autocar