Car Moon

The roller coaster that is Saab has taken another turn, and unfortunately for the Swedish brand, the future doesn’t look so bright. In spite of a tentative agreement to let Russian banker Vladimir Antonov invest 30 million euros in Saab’s parent company Spyker in return for a 29.9 percent stake, the investment still needs to be approved by the European Investment Bank, which means the Swedes are still short on cash and cannot resume full production.

Today, Spyker reported a loss of €79 million before interest and tax for its first quarter earnings, while the company’s CEO, Victor Muller, said that Saab will not meet its sales target this year.

At the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show, Chinese automaker Geely displayed an interesting concept car called McCar, whose funny name reportedly stands for “Magic car” and “Motorcycle Car” , and has nothing to do with the famous chain of fast-food restaurants – unless you take into consideration the fact that there is a folding electric scooter sandwiched between the rear seats of the car… Read more »

This past week saw many new production and concept cars making their world premiere at the increasingly important from a global point view, Shanghai Auto 2011. One of the most prominent brands of the show is Geely Auto, the Chinese automaker and owner of Volvo Cars, which displayed 37 vehicles along with its latest R&D achievements.

Headlining the Chinese automaker’s presence at the show is a hybrid concept vehicle called the McCAR and five new models that the company says will soon enter production and include the Gleagle GC6, Gleagle GX6, Gleagle GS-CC Coupe, Emgrand EC6-RV and Englon SC7-RV. Head over the jump for more details and photos.

Volvo released a teaser video of its upcoming Concept Universe, without giving out any additional information other than that it's a new design study that will be launched shortly. This means it could debut at one of this month's international auto shows, either in New York (April 22 – May 1) or Shanghai (April 21 – 28). Taking into account the fact that Volvo is owned by China’s Geely, the Shanghai show could be the more probable venue of the two for the new Volvo. Read more »

At a press conference held earlier today in Beijing, Chinese-owned Volvo Cars announced plans to build a new plant in the city of Chengdu and continuing investigations for a second factory in Daqing, in north-eastern China. Volvo said that the deal is still pending approval from the Chinese government.

"We regard the Chinese market as the second home market for Volvo Car Corporation and a very important part of the plan to build a successful future for the company," said Stefan Jacoby, President and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation.

The Chengdu assembly plant will only build Volvo cars and have an initial output of around 100,000 cars annually, with production estimated to start during 2013. Volvo said that the decision to expand in China will not affect operations and employment in Europe.

When it comes to making cars, China is king. We’re talking the world’s largest car market, with over a hundred individual marques. So why is it that there are virtually zero Chinese car manufactures selling cars in the U.S. aka the world’s other largest car market?

So far, China’s “Big Four” (well, the four most visible to those outside of China) have made and broken promises of bringing their vehicles to the North American market. Brilliance, Chery, Nanjing and Geely have all backed down from their plans to open dealerships and factories stateside. So far, not a single car from China's major automakers has touched down on U.S. soil outside a motor show.

With its U.S. sales steadily declining for 7 years now, Volvo has no choice but to radically rethink its strategy. The Swedish automaker is currently offering nine models in the States or about as many as Volkswagen does, but it sold almost five times fewer cars than the Germans in 2010.

Consequently, the Swedish brand, which is now owned by China's Geely, has decided to significantly reduce the number of models in its North American lineup and concentrate on best-selling vehicles in an effort to increase sales.

Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. (simply known as Geely) completed the purchase of Volvo Cars from Ford Motor Co. on Monday. According to Ford, Geely paid $1.3 billion in cash today and issued a $200 million note for the acquisition of the Swedish carmaker. The exact amount of the final sale price will be announced later this year when the final adjustments on Volvo's value are made, and could result in additional proceeds to Ford.

Volvo's new owner and China's top private automaker, Geely Automobile, has revealed a reworked version of its GE limousine prototype that drew attention last year for its... passing resemblance to the Rolls Royce Phantom.

For whatever reasons, Geely decided to modify the design of the 5.29 meter or about 17.3-foot long executive limo making it look more Chinese and less British.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Chairman Li Shufu recently had this to say about Volvo and its $1.8 billion purchase from Ford Motor Company: "A tiger belongs to the forest. It belongs to the wild world and not confined in a zoo. We need to liberate this tiger." Anyone else see the irony?

According to Autonews, Li was referring to Volvo's dependence on Europe for production and Europe and North America for the most part of its sales.

Geely's chairman believes that this issue will be solved by building a factory in Beijing, China, that will make 300,000 Volvo cars a year, or about the same amount the automaker currently produces at its plants in Sweden and Belgium

For better or for worse, Ford Motor Company has finalized a deal to sell Volvo Cars and related assists (primarily intellectual property) to Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Company Limited for US$1.8 billion (€1.35 billion at today's exchange rates).

The Detroit company said that the transaction will be made in the form of a note in the amount of US$200 million and the remainder in cash.

It's worth noting that Geely has acquired Volvo at a fraction of what Ford paid for the Swedish automaker at $6.5 billion in 1999.

Ford said that even though Geely owns 100 percent of Volvo, due to the fact that the Swedish automaker's cars share core components and technologies with its own vehicles, it will continue to supply the company with powertrains, stampings and other vehicle components for an undefined period.

Trouble's a-brewin' in the Ford/Geely Volvo sale, or so Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Chairman Li Shufu implies. The good news is it doesn't sound too serious.

Automotive News states that there may have been a "snag due to problems at Ford Motor Co."; regardless, Chairman Li says, "We're ready to seal the deal...If the deal fails, the problem is not on our side. We have not violated any part of the agreement."

While General Motors is still trying to figure out what it's going to do with its Saab division, Ford Motor Company announced today that it has settled all substantive commercial terms with China's Geely Holding Group Company Limited on the prospected sale of its Volvo unit.

You'd expect that a Ferrari replica from China, a country where the automotive industry has turned European and Japanese car cloning into a science, would at least be presentable. Because what you are seeing pictured above is just a computer-generated image of what the tuner hoped his modified Geely coupe would resemble. If your taste buds (and stomach) can handle it, click through to see the end result...

Alas, a Chinese car with a unique design that does not resemble any other vehicle around. As we reported earlier, Geely's design team refreshed the GT Coupe Concept's looks for the Shanghai Auto Show and while they were at it, they also added a pair of Lamborghini-style scissor doors that open without the use of a key and a working interior which is somewhat less impressively styled than the coupe's exterior.

They may say that imitation is the best form of flattery, but we wouldn't bet that the uptight chaps over at Rolls Royce are feeling any sort of flattery upon viewing Geely Motors' luxury GE sedan at the Shanghai Auto Show. To say that the GE's exterior design is inspired from the Rolls Royce Phantom would probably be an understatement. The 5.29 meter or about 208 inches long Chinese limo is a tad shorter than its uber luxurious British counterpart but whereas the Phantom gets a normal rear seat bench, the GE has a single rear chair fit for a king, queen or maybe even a member of the Chinese government...

Chinese automaker Geely has published a new set of photos of its all-new EC718 sedan and hacthback models that are destined to make their world debut along with 20 or so other production and concept cars from the firm including the GT Coupe at the Shanghai Auto Show. The inelegantly named subcompact four-door sedan and five-door hatchback will be offered in the Chinese market with numerous four-cylinder gasoline engines. Geely seems to be quite optimistic about the future of the two new Focus-sized models as the company said that it plans to sell both cars in many markets outside China.

Just as it did at last year's Beijing Auto Show, Chinese automaker Geely is preparing to exhibit a mind-boggling -for Western carmaker standards - 22 production cars and concept studies at the upcoming Shanghai Auto Show which runs from April 20 to 28. Aside from the closer-to-production GT concept and the Phantom-clone GE luxury limousine, the Chinese automaker's stand will host a variety of cars ranging from the all-electric EK2 and the IG mini to the Honda Ridegline-like ET925 four-door pickup truck and the GV515 minivan. Click through to check out the full gallery.