Ford and Geely Hammer Out Volvo Deal
Dec 23, 2009 - By Chris Weiss
It appears that the path is clear for Ford to sell Volvo to the Chinese company Geely–or Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, if you want to get technical. If you’re not familiar with the company, Geely, the largest private automaker in China, has brought us some pretty sweet, little rides in the past.
Though the companies have not yet confirmed a price, it’s expected that Geely will pay $2 billion for the Swedish automaker, well below the $6 billion Ford paid to acquire the company back in the economic heyday of ‘99. Details like financing and government approval still need to be sewn up, but the two companies are expected to ink the deal in the first quarter of next year.
Geely has expressed that it intends to leave Volvo’s operations much the same, including retaining the independent management team in Sweden. This news is slightly bittersweet because we’d love to get a peek at a Volvo that has been fully Geelied up. [via NY Times]