China's Geely seals Volvo car unit deal

The archetypal Scandinavian car brand Volvo fell under Chinese ownership on Monday as Shanghai-based Geely Automotive completed a deal to buy the loss-making car maker from Ford for an initial price of $1.5 billion (GBP955m).

Four months after agreeing on terms, Geely took over Volvo at a handover ceremony in London.

Geely pledged that Volvo would continue to be based in Sweden, with factories kept running in Scandinavia and Belgium. The Chinese company wants to increase production by more than 50 per cent to 600,000 cars annually within five years.

'This is a historic day for Geely, which is extremely proud to have acquired Volvo cars,' said Li Shufu, chairman, Geely.

Known for its robust bodywork and sleek Nordic designs, Volvo was founded in 1927 and the business was bought by Ford for $6.45 billion in 1999.