Ford tipped to win latest bid for Kia

A BUYER for Kia, the bankrupt Korean car company, has yet to be found after wrangles over who would take on its massive debts ended with a decision that bids should be re-submitted. Expectations were high that a new owner would be announced at the start of this month, but the four bidders - Ford, Hyundai, Daewoo and Samsung - all said they wanted the car firm's estimated £6 billion debt to be written off.

Creditor banks have rejected the demands and asked for bids to be re-submitted, sparking fears that the sale could collapse. But Mark Quinn, managing director of Kia Cars UK, said he was still expecting fresh bids to be put forward.

He predicted Ford would bring out the winning bid - it owns 16.9% of Kia - as the other potential buyers were more affected by the turmoil in the Korean and Far East economies, but added the outcome was by no means definite. Quinn has already stated that there would be no new Kia cars launched in Britain until the difficulties were sorted out and the company had been restructured.