“I absolutely believe that Renault will sell its shares in Volvo this year", auto industry analyst says as speculations intensify.

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France’s second-biggest automaker is in need of cash. Therefore it will sell its stakes in Swedish Volvo, the world’s second biggest truck maker, as soon as possible, according to several Swedish and British auto industry analysts.

“I absolutely believe that Renault will sell its shares in Volvo this year. The automotive industry is facing major challenges with the technology shift and the need for large investments”, Anders Trapp, analyst at SEB Enskilda, told business daily Dagens Industri.

Speculations whether Renault was gearing up to sell its stake intensified as the French carmaker concluded a deal with Volvo’s rival Daimler to jointly develop cars.

The most likely potential buyer is current Volvo owner investment group Industrivärden. Also Christer Gardell’s Violet Partners LP may be a likely suitor.

“They’re probably sitting now and crunching the numbers” said Michael Andersson, an analyst with Evli Bank in Stockholm, told Bloomber. “It’s really open.”

Renault is today Volvo’s largest owner with 21.8 percent of the stakes. Last week Industrivärden boosted its stake in Volvo, taking its voting rights to more than 10 percent and giving it official veto power. It raised its stake in the Gothenburg-based firm to nearly 4.0 percent from 3.3 percent at the end of February.

After the stake buildup, Industrivärden was the fourth largest Volvo shareholder behind Renault, Capital Group Funds and Swedbank Funds.

Last month Bloomberg wrote that Renault is likely keep its Volvo AB stake until a rebounding heavy-truck market boosts the price 25 percent. That would allow the Frensch carmaker to raise about 50 billion kronor ($6.8 billion) and wipe out most of its debt.

“Renault’s under no real pressure to refinance right now, so [Chief Executive Officer Carlos] Ghosn can wait for the U.S. recovery to be better reflected in Volvo’s share price,” said Max Warburton, an analyst at Sanford C, told the newswire.

A rebounding market seems to loam nearer as demand for heavy trucks picks up. Volvo Group posted a better-than-expected first-quarter net profit of 1.7 billion kronor ($238 million) compared with a loss of 4.2 billion kronor a year ago.

"With a gradually improved global economy, demand is once again increasing”, Volvo Group CEO Leif Johansson said.