Rumormill: Ford to sell Volvo to Geely for 1.8 billion on Feb. 8

See you in Shanghai - click above for high-res image gallery

With all the Saab hullabaloo clogging up the virtual pipes as of late seems that folks have been neglecting the fate of the other fancy Swedish brand purchased by a pipe-dreamin', pie in the sky American car maker whose coffers were overflowing with SUV money. That's right, Ford purchased Volvo in 1999 for $6.45 billion dollars. Many scratched their heads at the time, as Mercury and/or Lincoln certainly could have used a $6 billion infusion. Also, both Mercury and Lincoln compete with Volvo, on paper at least. But, just like General Motors purchased Saab, Ford had their Swedish brand.

In retrospect, probably not the best idea ever hatched.

Proof? Rumor has it that Ford is inking in the details of a sale of Volvo to China's Geely Holding Group Co. for $1.8 billion by February 8. That's a nearly $4.7 billion bath on Ford's part in just eleven years. But here's the thing: according to the same rumor, Ford might let Volvo go to Geely for as little as $1.6 billion. There's a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo still to be worked out (this agreement runs out after one year, that regulatory board must approve X in a timely fashion) but it's looking more and more that Volvo is about to become a Chinese company. We'll keep you posted.