The former CFO of Chrysler and chief aide to Kirk Kerkorian and his Tracinda investment company, Jerry York, has given some insight about his thoughts on the current state of Ford and its subsidiaries. York, who met with Ford CEO Alan Mulally last month, thinks the Blue Oval chief will sell Volvo and Mercury but will likely retain Lincoln.

He said cutting Volvo and Mercury from Ford’s lineup is the right thing to do and that’s what he would do if he had the top job. "I'm very confident that (Mulally's plan) is the answer and I think you'll see that he'll put Volvo on the market within the next year and a half," York told Automotive News. "There's no rational reason for keeping Volvo or Mercury."

York’s opinion does have a great deal of clout as the company he represents, Tracinda Corp, only this week announced it was expanding its share in Ford by buying an additional 20 million shares. York was also Tracinda’s representative back in 2006 when the investment group held a 9.9% stake in GM and was one of the key backers for a partnership between GM and Renault-Nissan. When asked if Ford needed an alliance partner, York declined to speculate.