US auto giant Ford was reported to be negotiating a sale of its subsidiary Volvo Cars, according to newspaper reports Monday.

BMW, the German carmaker, is in informal talks to buy the Swedish car manufacturer Volvo Cars from its owner Ford, according to two sources close to the situation.

A second source, close to BMW, confirmed that a Volvo cars sale process is currently taking place. He also confirmed that BMW is looking at Volvo Cars’ books but does not believe that the German company will end up buying Volvo Cars.

“BMW has already everything that Volvo cars cannot offer,” the source said.

Commenting on the reports, Volvo Cars spokeswoman Maria Bohlin told Deutsche Presse-Agentur that "we regard this as media speculation," adding any possible sale was a matter to be decided by Volvo Cars' owner, Ford.

Several industry sources have downplayed the possibility that Volvo Cars could be an attractive target for private equity, in spite of the fact that Chrysler Corp was acquired by Cerberus Capital just two weeks ago.

Ford acquired Volvo Cars in 1999 for 6.45 billion dollars.

Volvo Cars delivered 427,964 cars to consumers in 2006 down 3.6% from 443,947 in 2005. It sells cars in more than 100 countries but has a relatively small market share of 1-2% in its main markets of the US, the UK, Germany and Italy.