The Swedish car and truck-maker Volvo AG led the gains after a Swedish newspaper reported that Ford officials, eager to buy Volvo, had held talks last week with Leif Johansson, the chief executive of Volvo. A Volvo spokesman declined to comment. With takeover talk swirling, the German luxury automaker Bayerische Motoren Werke AG took the unusual step of issuing a lengthy and strongly worded denial that it was involved in any such negotiations. There are no plans for talks about a merger or an extensive cooperation,'' said Eberhard von Kuenheim, the supervisory board chairman.
Traders also bid other carmakers higher.
That deal put pressure on other companies to match the scope of the new DaimlerChrysler's global operations, product range and massive economies of scale, analysts said. With European carmakers wrestling with 20 percent more capacity than they need in their plants and a looming slowdown expected next year for many of the world's vehicle-makers, analysts say the pressure to consolidate has increased. Co. In addition to Ford, Fiat and Volkswagen are believed to be interested in BMW, analysts said. Both Volvo and BMW increasingly have been cited as takeover targets because both lack the global reach or breadth of products of their biggest competitors. The flurry of interest over BMW's denials overshadowed the company's latest sales report.