Geely to buy Volvo

After all the rumours and speculation, Geely looks set to buy struggling Swedish firm Volvo. There’s no word yet on how much the Chinese manufacturer is likely to pay, but this news marks a major milestone for the Chinese car industry and reinforces just how tough even the most established marques are finding the financial crisis.

It’s an astonishing rise to prominence for Geely which only made its first car in 1998, but this year over 300,000 units will roll out of its many production facilities. To put this in context, in the second quarter of 2009 Geely sales grew by a massive 33 per cent while almost every other brand suffered from a steep decline in demand.

Not only does the potential deal highlight the growing influence of Chinese car makers in the world market, but with unimpeded access to all of Volvo’s R&D and technical know-how it could spell a major hike in quality for the models Geely produces.

Keep your eye on the autoexpress.co.uk over the next few days for updates on this crucial deal.