Ford denies possible Volvo sale to BMW

DEARBORN, Mich., May 29 (UPI) -- Ford Motor Co. denied Tuesday it was in talks with anyone to sell its Swedish Volvo division.

"Ford Motor Co. is not in discussions with BMW or any other company regarding interest in the Volvo Car Corp.," a Ford spokesman said after the Goeteborgs-Posten, published the sale rumor in Volvo's headquarters city of Gothenburg, and The Financial Times said talks were under way with Germany's BMW AG.

Spokesman John Gardiner said the struggling U.S. automaker is still weighing its strategic options concerning its asset portfolio.

Earlier this year BMW expressed an interest in buying at least a stake in the Volvo unit, but that interest "has completely cooled," The Wall Street Journal reported.

Ford bought the car operations of AB Volvo March 8, 1999, for $6.45 billion and made it part of its London-based Premier Automotive Group, which also includes Jaguar and Land Rover.

The Premier Automotive Group also included the Aston Martin until Ford sold it to a British-led consortium for about $907 million March 12.

Volvo has 2,500 dealerships in 100 markets worldwide. Sixty percent of sales come from Europe, 30 percent from North America and the remaining 10 percent from other countries.

The 80-year-old automaker plans to introduce two major models, the third-generation V70 station wagon and the XC70 crossover, this summer and fall.