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CHINA: Geely needs to preserve Volvo safety reputation
Geely Automobile will face the tough challenge of ensuring Volvo's reputation for safety if its bid is successful, analysts have said.
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17 days ago
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RE: CHINA: Geely needs to preserve Volvo safety reputation
Geely are likely to face the same dilemmas, if not make the same mistakes, as Ford did with Volvo - and with Jaguar, Aston Martin and Land Rover. Ford never lost it's mega-volume, stateside approach, and while a large number of execs understood the ethos of each of these acquisitions, a much larger and ultimately dominant group of execs did not, and strove to keep their home turf safe from internal competition. At best, they confused the market, imposed confused thinking on platform sharing, and foisted expenses (e.g. Halewood) on their subsidiaries which were not justified by the realities of the middle-class markets of Jaguar and Volvo nor the off-road work vehicles of Land Rover and the select clientele for bespoke Astons. Instead, they confused their SUVs, personal trucks, Lincolns, and Scorpios - many of which were failing in their target markets on merit or on fuel efficiency when the stresses mounted - with distinctive brands. Ford picked up vast amounts of value from Jaguar - powertrain and suspension quality and performance - manufacturing ingenuity, safety technology and principles from Volvo, and 4x4 sophistry from Land Rover in exchange for generous funding. Not all the one-way trade that some analysts perceive. But it was the dilution of experience by rotating managers and by going for volume sectors rather than cultivating the aspiring customers for niches - durability and safety in Volvo's case. It's rumoured Ford-imposed targets recently led to scrapping of stocks of parts for some obsolete Volvos, making it very difficult to keep them on the road for their 19-21 year half-life, previously a strong selling point. Over the top of this, competitors were spreading into the markets of Ford's family of marques with performance on and off-road, durability, safety, etc., while they should have been keeping ahead of the pack. It's difficult to see Geely walking the tightrope better, but with more humility than some Ford execs, they could succeed. They could do well to follow Tata's example with Jag and Land Rover.
And, fair play, none of the above brands would have been here today without Ford.
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17 days ago
by Dai Morgan
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