Chinese media reports sale of Ford’s Volvo

Geely Automobile Holdings in China has agreed to a tentative deal to purchase Volvo Cars from Ford Motor Co., the China Daily reported Thursday.

The paper cited other media reports which include Geely’s plans to produce a new Volvo in the Guangzhou Province.

The Local, a Swedish newspaper in Stockholm, reported that Geely intended to build the XC90 in China and position the company for a move toward a global market.

A Volvo spokeswoman Maria Bohlin told the Swedish news agency Tidningarnas Telegrambyra that, Ford is in charge of the sale. We don’t know anything here.

Ford bought Volvo for $6.9 billion, but will likely sell the company for about $3 billion, the China Daily said.

It’s the right time for Chinese firms to make overseas acquisition during the slowdown in the economy, said Jia Xinguang, an analyst with the Chinese National Automotive Industry Consulting and Development Corp.

Chinese industrial equipment producer Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. recently agreed to purchase the Hummer brand from General Motors Corp.