Geely to keep Volvo a separate entity

By Matt Brogan | February 03rd, 2010

The new owners of Volvo, Chinese manufacturer Geely want to keep Volvo a separate entity in order to protect the Swedish manufacturer’s image in the European and North American markets as well as China.

“We want to be careful not to damage the Volvo brand,” Freeman Shen, Geely’s vice president for international operations said. Shen was educated in the United States and was formerly in charge of Fiat Powertrain Technologies in China.

There has been concern over Geely’s ability to maintain Volvo’s upmarket position, Geely has plans to open a Volvo assembly plant in China. Shen said that the Geely line-up and the Volvo operation would be run independently. Geely will be gaining technologies from Volvo, engineering, safety and assembly know-how but not at the expense of its own products.

“We don’t want the image of a luxury car made in a third world country,” Shen said. “We want the image of a European luxury car, albeit owned by a Chinese owner.”

It is expected Geely will sign the deal to buy Volvo from Ford around the middle February, most likely to occur within hours of GM’s sale of Saab’s to Spyker.

Dean

As an employee of Geely and a native Chinese, I doubt Shen would have said something like these. Someone in the West has clearly modified the statements. Also, a fact should not be overlooked that all other luxury cars are already being made in China through JV, such Mercedes, BMW, Audi, etc. Do they worry about ‘the image of a luxury car’?

AAA

It is not unreasonable for him to make that statement, since it only concerns the general perception, and is by no means denigrating Geely or any third world country.

Nankano

Once they take over VOLVO [="I ROLL"] nothing to stop them calling GEELY… VOLVO’S…

Every Chinese made GEELY will leave the factory Chinese factory with VOLVO badges, and NOTHING anybody can do about it…..
Shak

I dont think there is anything wrong with China starting up its business with as good a brand as Volvo. TATA and Jaguar seem to be doing pretty well, so why shouldn’t Volvo and Geely. The owner really doenst make much difference at the end of the day. Look at the German owned MINI, its still got all its DNa and has also learnt how to speak German at the same time. WIn win for everyone.
http://www.lehmanvolvo.blogspot.com swedishforlife

Shak, you don’t get it at all. TATA has a rich history of producing cars, BMW is one of the finest engineering firms in the history of the universe. Geely’s cars arent even good enough to enter the US! They built their first car only 13 years ago and have no concept of style, environemental care, quality, or safety.
Now I am not speaking down about the company, only stating the obvious. they are still learning, BUT IN TODAY’S SOCIETY THERE IS NO TIME TO LEARN IF YOU WANT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY ON AN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL!! THAT IS THE MAIN DIFFERENCE. That is why Volvo is in danger of becoming another extinct brand if Geely decides they “know what to do” with the brand. Trust me, they simply won’t leave them to their own devices. you don’t buy a brand to simply let them run themselves.
HyundaiSmoke

Volvos with Geely Engines might actually be a step up for them in quality. Always near the bottom of every quality chart in the US. JD Power, CR, Intellifax, etc….

Oh come on now, there is a perfectly good reason why Volvo is in trouble right now, and that’s quality. Maybe those Geely Engines they copied from Hyundai and Toyota with Volvo techinical expertise put into Volvos are what the doctor ordered.
http://www.lehmanvolvo.blogspot.com swedishforlife

Hyndai, stop smoking.
Volvo engines are among the best in the industry. They have a rich history of perfecting the turbo charged engine, and their diesel engines are among the cleanest and most efficient in the industry. You need to put down the crack pipe.

Peter

Agreed. Where did that come from? The 2.5 turbo has been a great engine for years. The 850R was one of the quickest sedans around at the time (I think it might have ad the 2.3 HPT but I’m not sure), never heard of problems with them, the c70T5 was a monster when it came out – 0 – 100 in under 7 was very quick in the late 90′s, that did have the 2.3HPT, the s60R was getting 5.5 from a 2.5l HPT for quite a biggish car and it was acknowledged to be a beautiful engine, in fact volvos reputation has always been that you cant kill them, no matter how much you might end up wanting to. The 82 (I think) 760GLE did have serious deficiencies with the engine, they tried some sort of mechanical injection (I dont really understand it) and it was terrible to work on with a cylinder or two pointing down rather than up, but that is the only one I’ve heard of as being a dog.