Geely completes Volvo purchase

* Volvo sold for $1.5 billion * New CEO from Volkswagen America * Volvo to stick to its core values, says chairman...

Geely completes Volvo purchase

Chinese car maker Geely has completed its buy out of Volvo Cars from Ford.

After more than a year of negotiations, Geely has paid Ford a total of $1.5 billion (975 million) for Volvo and installed Stefan Jacoby, former chief of VW America, as president and CEO of Volvo Cars.

The new chairman of Volvo Cars, Li Shufu, said: 'Volvo will remain true to its core values of safety, quality, environmental care and modern Scandinavian design as it strengthens the existing European and North American markets, and expands its presence in China and other emerging markets.'

Peter Rask, Volvo UK's managing director, said the purchase of Volvo would lead to 'exciting times' for the company.

He said: 'We have 2% market share in the UK; just think of the numbers if we could replicate 2% market share in China.'