Geely eyes acquisition

Chinese carmaker Geely Automobile said Wednesday it will raise about $334 million in a deal with an affiliate of Goldman Sachs, building up cash for a possible takeover of Ford Motor Co.’s Volvo Cars.

The news caused shares of Geely’s Hong Kong-traded unit to skyrocket.

The money raised will be used to pay for potential acquisitions and other needs, Geely said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Geely’s announcement made no mention of the company’s interest in Volvo, though a company spokesman confirmed earlier that the Hangzhou-based automaker’s parent company was considering bidding for the Swedish automaker.

Geely, one of China’s leading domestic automakers, is among several Chinese companies that have shown interest in Volvo and other European car companies.

Daimler may boost U.S. factory

German carmaker Daimler AG is considering whether to move some production of its Mercedes-Benz C-Class models to Alabama from Germany, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

The daily Stuttgarter Zeitung reported, without citing sources, that the company’s management is mulling whether to move production of the C-Class from its Sindelfingen plant, in the Stuttgart suburbs, to Tuscaloosa.

That would allow the company to take advantage of lower labor and other costs and avoid swings in the value of the U.S. dollar against the euro, and would leave Bremen as the only German site producing the C-Class, the newspaper said.

Daimler builds a C-Class four-door sedan, a two-door sedan and a station wagon.

VW forecast: Flat global sales

Auto industry heavyweight Volkswagen AG expects the global car sector’s sales in 2010 to come in at levels similar to this year’s, a senior executive said Wednesday.

Wolfsburg, Germany-based Volkswagen said it delivered 4 million cars worldwide in the January-August period, a 2.1% drop from record 2008 levels.

However, that compared with a decline of about 14% in the global auto market. VW said it was making progress and gaining market share, especially in Germany, China and Brazil.

“In our current planning for 2010, we expect a similar sales volume for the entire car market as in 2009,” Francisco Javier Garcia Sanz, a management board member responsible for purchasing, said at a workers’ council meeting in Wolfsburg.

“Worldwide, we’re still in third place in sales, but we’ve cut the distance to the top considerably,” Sanz told workers.

AutoZone profits fall

Auto-parts retailer AutoZone Inc. said Wednesday its fiscal fourth-quarter profit fell 3.1%, citing tough comparisons with a prior-year period that included an extra week of sales. Its shares dropped more than 7%.

Bill Rhodes, AutoZone’s chairman, president and CEO, said consumers remained focused on trying to save money during the quarter by spending more on basic maintenance in order to keep their cars on the road longer.

Rhodes added that he expects the same trend to continue for the near future.

“This quarter we continued our focus on the basics,” he told investors in a conference call. “And we continue to believe we’re well-positioned to take advantage of opportunities as we head into the new fiscal year.”

Chrysler names new VP

Chrysler Group LLC named Fiat Powertrain Technologies executive Paolo Ferrero senior vice president of Chrysler’s powertrain operations, in a step toward sharing engine and transmission technology with its Italian partner.

Ferrero will report directly to Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne and be responsible for powertrain manufacturing, testing, quality and international operations.

He comes from Fiat Powertrain Technologies, for which he was vice president of product engineering.

Fiat, which owns 20% of Chrysler Group LLC, convinced President Barack Obama’s auto task force that by sharing its powertrain technology and expertise in designing small cars, it could provide the best way to turn around the Auburn Hills automaker. – Freep