Volvo may finally part ways with Ford by the end of next week. The Detroit Free Press reports that the Blue Oval is aiming to close its $1.8 billion sale of the Swedish automaker to Geely in as little as 10 days, though Ford has merely said that its goal is to hand over the Volvo reigns by the end of the third quarter of this year. The move to send Volvo packing is part of Ford CEO Alan Mulally's strategy to slim the company down to focus on its core brands – a scheme that seems to be working so far.
In the meantime, Volvo managed to turn a profit of $53 million before taxes in the second quarter of this year. The news is a big leap from the same time last year – in the second quarter of 2009, the brand lost a heady $237 million. Ford's sale of Volvo seems to have been on glacial pace, partly due to the number of government agencies in the U.S., Europe and China that were needed to sign off on the deal. By the time the ink dries on the last document, Geely will have secured the largest overseas acquisition of any Chinese automaker so far.
In the meantime, Volvo managed to turn a profit of $53 million before taxes in the second quarter of this year. The news is a big leap from the same time last year – in the second quarter of 2009, the brand lost a heady $237 million. Ford's sale of Volvo seems to have been on glacial pace, partly due to the number of government agencies in the U.S., Europe and China that were needed to sign off on the deal. By the time the ink dries on the last document, Geely will have secured the largest overseas acquisition of any Chinese automaker so far.
