Report: Ford held talks with Renault to sell Volvo

Following the news that Ford has been in talks with a number of firms from China and Russia about a possible sale of its Volvo subsidiary comes new reports claiming that Renault was one of the initial carmakers interested in acquiring the Swedish label. An inside source close to the negotiations has revealed that Ford and Renault had conducted exploratory talks last year but stopped talking after neither party could come to an agreement over pricing.

However, the source has told Reuters that further negotiations have taken place since then and that Renault shouldn’t be excluded from the list of potential bidders for Volvo. Renault is currently tied to Nissan but the CEO of the French-Japanese duo, Carlos Ghosn, has expressed his desire to join with a third carmaker, although he originally sought to partner with a North American firm.

Additionally, the source has also confirmed that China's third-largest automaker, Dongfeng Motor Group, is another potential bidder and has been in contact with Ford.

Ford is standing by its announcement that Volvo is not for sale and all attention is focused on improving its business results.