Did Fiat Make Bid For Volvo?

PARIS — In the aftermath of AB Volvo’s agreement to sell its car division to Ford Motor Co., a semantic argument has erupted over a rival $13 billion bid for all of Volvo by Italian car and truckmaker Fiat.

Was Fiat’s bid "formal" or not?

When asked by journalists about speculation that Fiat had made a bid to buy the company, Volvo’s chief executive officer Leif Johansson denied there had been a "concrete" bid.

"We must announce a concrete bid to the market," Mr. Johansson was quoted as saying in news reports. "It did not go so far with Fiat."

Fiat begs to differ. It issued a statement Feb. 4, claiming it’s bid was "concrete".

"It comes down to the definition of concrete," said Stefan Lorentzson, a spokesman for Volvo Truck Corp. "For him (Mr. Johansson) it (a concrete bid) was the same as a formal bid, and Fiat did not make a formal bid. Fiat didn’t go to the market either."

Volvo’s board of directors was faced with making a decision on Ford’s proposal to buy just the car division, and Fiat’s to acquire the whole company. There could have been other bids as well, but the Volvo spokesman refused to comment on "speculation".

For the full story, see the Feb. 15 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.