With the Chinese & Volvo... I'm Not Buying It!

I'm sorry- but I've been following this closeout of American (and some European) auto brands/division since it's been in talks going-on almost a year- watching the likes of Hummer and Volvo get courted by huge Chinese conglomerates, and I'm sorry- I don't care how industrious, smart, driven and successful a nation- they're not running these care companies.

Well, forget Hummer, that's done... (Last I read or cared anyway).

But after reading this article in Yahoo! about Geely and how they're going to have issues migrating Volvo (really, this ought to be fun to watch)- after having gone through a merger and decommission (it was a takeover) myself- reading about Geely's record, their culture; knowing what a heap of crap Volvo is... (Sorry, they're shit these days...) this isn't going to be a marriage made in Chinese Dynasty Haven.

No one's getting fortune cookies at the end of this experience...

I'm sorry- I'm being honest- I just don't see it. The Chinese have failed to debut a world-class car- i.e. a vehicle available all over the world- read- here, in America. Ford is going to have to have contracts withstanding with them for decades- for supply, consultancy, whatever- like in the Jaguar/Tata merger- Ford is still going to have to be in the picture- none of these mergers and takeovers are clean.

They're safety, production and quality standards are not up to snuff- it's ironic they bought Volvo, a car known and marketed towards safety- a brilliant marketing ploy that has been at the forefront of their ethos- since the 1980s.

(But remember when Volvos looked like this? Them were the days...)


Volvos for the record, used to be great cars- but that was decades ago. Now, their platforms are aged- their quality is not what it's used to be- and if Ford- the healthiest of the "Big Three" doesn't want them- how are the Chinese going to find profitability in them?
Sure, they'll be profitable- but at what price? And in what market?

If the Chinese think they can put the Volvo badge on some total Chinese piece-of-crap microcar and market its virtues in their market- all the power to them. They can, it's their brand now.

But if they think they're going to build the loyalty worldwide, of a Swedish car manufacturer (love them, or hate them) and sell a viable product- I just think they still have a lot to learn- and I hope the Swedes can learn it to them.

I could be wrong, I hope I am- but the whole deal just isn't sitting with me.

I prefer to remember Volvos- when they were great.

A little trivia here- The Car Guy Gets It was brought home from the hospital in a Volvo 164 E.

My late grandfather too, also drove a Volvo- a 244- so, I'm warm and fuzzy about the brand- just it's amazing how things have changed in the last 30 years.

But who would have thunk-it, those people on the hilltop in the picture here were Chinese.... (What, they could be?)

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