Ford Motor has reached an agreement to sell Volvo to the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group of Hangzhou, China. The deal is expected to be finalized and approved in the second quarter of 2010. Ford bought the Swedish car in 1999 for $6 billion. It is not known how much Geely will pay for it, though there are reports that it could be $2 billion. The deal will add to China's body of Western technology and help China exploit the rapidly growing opportunities for quality cars in the home market.

The sale of Volvo to Geely, China's largest private car maker, leaves Ford better positioned to focus on North American and European "core" operations. Since 2007, Ford has sold Aston Martin, Land Rover and Jaguar, and reduced its stake in Mazda.

Meanwhile, General Motors is trying to resolve the issue of its own Swedish unit, Saab. Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Company (BAIC) agreed to acquire some Saab assets, including intellectual property and technology last week. This includes manufacturing blueprints and management systems that will enable B.A.I.C. to produce quality cars for its domestic market. But the owner of Dutch car maker Spyker is still trying to buy Saab, though talks with GM broke off last week. Viktor Muller is trying to raise money for the purchase, which must take place by the end of December. The sale of Saab technology to BAIC will not affect the outcome of talks with Muller regarding Saab.

Since last June, Chinese companies have been buying up, or entering into technology sharing agreements with, Western auto makers including GM's Hummer, Fiat, Daimler, Volvo and Saab. A bid for GM's Opel unit was rejected and GM ultimately held on to the Opel. The deals are intended to help China close the technology gap between its domestic car makers and the global market leaders. China has already surpassed the United States as the number one auto market in the world in terms of sales.

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