Car Maker Ford Agrees to Sell Volvo Cars to China's Geely

U.S. car maker Ford has agreed to sell Volvo cars to China's Zhejiang Geely and will present the deal at 1000 GMT, Swedish television reported on Wednesday.

Photo: Car Maker Ford Agrees to Sell Volvo Cars to China's Geely

Car Maker Ford Agrees to Sell Volvo Cars to China's Geely

The fine print of the deal can take some more time to finalise, Swedish television said. It said a local union representative had confirmed that an agreement had been reached between Ford and Geely, Reuters informs.

The Chinese company "has already selected a person who would be CEO for Volvo in China after the takeover," SVT reported.

It added that Geely's choice had previously worked for Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. (BAIC), which this month agreed to buy the intellectual property rights for some assets of General Motors' Swedish unit Saab.

Sweden's newspaper of reference Dagens Nyheter (DN) also said Ford and Geely could soon agree on the sale of the premium Swedish nameplate.

"DN's sources also estimate a deal could be impending," it said.

Volvo Cars was founded in the western Swedish city of Gothenburg in 1927 and counts some 22,000 employees worldwide, around 16,000 of whom work in Sweden.

Ford, the number-two US carmaker, announced in December 2008 it wanted to sell the premium Swedish nameplate, which it fully acquired in a 6.4 billion dollar deal in 1999.

The US company picked Geely in October as preferred bidder for Volvo, AFP informs.