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China May Lose Out on Volvo; Ford Cites IP Concerns

08 November 2012

China May Lose Out on Volvo; Ford Cites IP Concerns
Ford is struggling with concerns about its intellectual property as it assesses offers for its Volvo Car Group, the Detroit News reports, citing people familiar with the negotiations.

China’s Geeley Automobile is in negotiations to purchase the Swedish automaker from Ford. The newspaper reports that Volvo, which has been part of Ford for a decade, shares a significant amount of technology with the US automaker.

Ford’ s negotiations with Geeley stumbled when Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter identified a group of investors, including a former Ford board member and a former Ford executive, interested in buying Volvo.

Concerns about intellectual property dogged GM earlier this year when it rejected a bid by Beijing Automotive Industry Corp to acquire its Opel unit. Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co is presently trying to acquire GM’s Hummer business.

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