Two auto industry posts in one day, a new record for China Hearsay. What’s the problem with this possible acquisition? Pretty much just a competition issue, with Ford not wanting to include certain kinds of trade secret information in the sale of Volvo to Geely.

Geely Holding’s attempt to buy Ford Motor Co’s Volvo car unit is in danger of stalling over disagreements about intellectual property rights, a source close to the talks said on Wednesday.

Representatives from Ford and Geely, parent of Hong Kong-listed car maker Geely Automotive, have been discussing a sale, for around $2 billion, since early this year.

The latest talks, being held in London, are focused on the U.S. car maker’s concerns about sharing its proprietary technology and plans for new products[.] (New York Times)

Would be interesting to know more about the trade secrets involved, whether there is any registered IP (e.g. designs or inventions), and if any of this is owned by Volvo or otherwise embedded in the business unit via licensing deals.

I also wonder if this is a question about trade secrets that simply cannot be separated from Volvo (for legal or practical reasons), or whether this is just a matter of negotiation (i.e., Geely wouldn’t bother to purchase Volvo without the added value of that IP).

So we’ll have to wait and see on this deal.

By the way, the New York Times article, which is actually a Reuters piece from Hong Kong, contains the single worst IP comment I’ve ever seen. You be the judge:

“I’m not at all surprised that intellectual property rights would be a roadblock in the Volvo sale as IPR has always been an issue in China,” said Boni Sa, analyst at CSM Worldwide, a global industry consultancy.

Why even bother getting a quote from someone if that is going to be the result?