Ford to move Volvo brand upmarket

DETROIT, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Having abandoned plans to sell its Volvo division, Detroit's Ford Motor Co. says it wants to move the Swedish brand more upmarket to boost sales and profits.

But Volvo executives in Sweden are nervous that reinventing the brand could hurt -- but recognize their very survival is at stake, the Detroit News reported Monday.

After Ford said it would keep Volvo, the chief of Ford's European operations flew to Sweden to deliver a message to the Volvo office in Gothenberg: Volvo must be competitive on costs and revenues and do it by becoming an upscale alternative to Lexus, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. And it must do so by heightened focus on safety, simplicity and Scandinavian design.

"It's not a change of direction, it's just building on what they've got. We're looking to take customers from everybody," Lewis Booth, chairman of Volvo Cars and president of Ford's European division, told The Detroit News. "We're not going to achieve it by mimicking our competitors. We're going to achieve it by being what Volvo is -- a strong Swedish brand with the values of that society."