SHAREHOLDERS in Volvo this week gave a unanimous go-ahead to the Ford buy-out of its motoring arm for an estimated £3.7 billion. The shareholders' meeting on Monday was attended by Jacques Nasser, Ford chief executive, who expects the addition of Volvo to raise luxury car production at Ford and its subsidiaries to one million units in the new millennium.

Ford's current luxury volume, including Lincoln, Jaguar and Aston Martin, is 250,000 units. Nasser added that Ford would invest in production lines in Volvo's Swedish plants and extend its product line-up into new segments, saying: 'The Volvo acquisition provides an excellent strategic fit.'