“I think Volvo has a very, very bright future,” Mulally said.

“They’re great business people, they love the product and they’re going to be a great owner for Volvo.”

Mulally reiterated that Ford is not considering any other bidders for Volvo but declined to say when the deal would close.

“We don’t give a specific date out for it because these are very sophisticated conversations we have because we have to make sure that we have all of our support for Volvo all lined up so we don’t have a timeframe,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference hosted by Automotive News.

“We’re just making great progress.”

Ford will continue to invest in Volvo up until the day the deal closes and will “support Volvo for as long as it takes,” he added.

“Volvo is just a fabulous brand, it’s a global brand,” Mulally said.

“We are divesting these other brands not because we don’t like them — they are fabulous brands — (but) our point of view going forward is, we need to focus on Ford.”