DETROIT — Ford Motor Co.’s 10-month effort to sell Volvo to China’s Geely Holding Group may fall apart within days as the companies struggle to agree on intellectual-property rights, two people familiar with the talks said.
Ford and Geely are meeting in London this week to try to resolve the U.S. automaker’s concerns about sharing technology and future product plans, said the people, who asked not to be identified. Without an accord, Ford may opt to keep the Swedish unit, where losses are narrowing and sales are improving.
Ford, the only major U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy, put Volvo on the block in December as it shed overseas luxury lines to focus on its namesake brand. Geely, China’s biggest private automaker, is offering about $2 billion.
“Volvo is completely integrated into Ford’s product-development strategy, and Ford should be concerned about where its vehicle architectures will end up,” said Michael Robinet, a CSM Worldwide analyst in Northville, Mich. “This is akin to selling a room on your house. You can’t separate it easily.”
Any buyer would gain insight into Ford’s future products, which will still share Volvo technology and mechanical vehicle designs, the people said. Ford wants assurances that Geely will keep new- model blueprints secret, the people said.
