Geely inks deal for Volvo

China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group inked a deal to buy the Volvo brand from Ford Motor Co. for US$1.8 billion, news reports say.

The weekend agreement will see the independent Chinese automaker make huge inroads in Europe and give it a luxury brand for the massive Asian car market.

The Associated Press is reporting that the price is way under the $6.45 billion Ford paid for the Swedish brand eleven years ago. Ford has been working on selling the Swedish automaker for about a year and a half.

“We think it's a fair price for a good business, and yes, we're happy with the deal we've achieved with Geely,” said Ford Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth on Sunday at a news conference at Volvo Cars headquarters in Goteborg, Sweden.

The news agency said that Geely says it has secured financing to complete the deal.

- With files from The Associated Press