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Comment by wbsss4412 | Hacker News Reader

Volvo is owned by a Chinese parent company, but their operations are still based in the same places as before.

Using the definition implied by your comment, they were previously and “American” car manufacturer as they were sold to geeley by ford.

Edit: absurd typo, it is owned by a Chinese company.

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> Volvo is not owned by a Chinese parent company, but their operations are still based in the same places as before.

You are welcome to use your own definition of the word 'owned' but I'll just stick to the dictionary one.

> Using the definition implied by your comment, they were previously and “American” car manufacturer as they were sold to geeley by ford.

https://www.industryweek.com/finance/software-systems/articl...

I highly suspect, based on facts about Volvo and the structure of that sentence, that they didn't mean to write "not owned", but rather "now owned."

Ah, that could be, thank you for pointing that out. That would make a lot more sense. But then I still don't understand the comment. Volvo is now Chinese, whether you like it or not is another matter.

Would you say that Arm is a Japanese company?

Yes, absolutely. As soon as majority ownership of a company changes from one nationality to another you're kidding yourself if you want to continue to see it as belonging to the country where it originated.

The shareholders control who runs the company, what it does, how it does it and ultimately where the profits are. It's just like outsourcing. But we don't like it when we look at Asian companies owning famous Western brands. But when McDonalds operates in China we're quick to call it an American company. That works both ways.

I never meant to say that Volvo isn’t Chinese. It’s just odd that people really feel the need to bring it up, despite the fact that operationally little is different.

It’s Chinese in the same way that Jeep/ram/dodge/Chrysler are Dutch now. No one ever seems to bring that up when they are mentioned, though.

> I never meant to say that Volvo isn’t Chinese.

Accepted.

> It’s just odd that people really feel the need to bring it up, despite the fact that operationally little is different.

It was merely for completeness' sake, and to indicate that since the days that Volvo pioneered this sort of thing the company had changed ownership.

> It’s Chinese in the same way that Jeep/ram/dodge/Chrysler are Dutch now.

That's a tax dodge and has very little to do with the actual ownership.

And no, Geely is really a Chinese company and really controls Volvo.

> No one ever seems to bring that up when they are mentioned, though.

Because most people are aware of the difference between a tax dodge and a controlling interest by a foreign company.

If you want to make a parallel with Stellantis I think it should stop with the shareholders of Stellantis which you'll find in Italy and France, not in NL.

Stellantis really is a European company, which was the point. I felt the need to choose a country so I chose where they’re headquartered. Regardless, most people would identify those brands as “American” cars, which was the overarching point.

> Regardless, most people would identify those brands as “American” cars, which was the overarching point.

Yes, car brand ownership is a mess. So if you want to buy an American car, I think your options are limited to Tesla.

Yes, that is indeed correct. Thank you for clarifying for me.

Apologies, that was a typo.

The risks of posting on a phone…

Someone else caught it and pointed that out. I totally missed it.

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