China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which is buying Ford Motor’s Volvo car unit for a reported US$1.8bn, has said it aims to sell 150,000 Volvo cars annually in China by 2015.

The company plans to assemble the Volvo XC60 locally by the end of 2010, followed by the S60 model in 2011.

The S40 and S80 models, currently assembled by Changan Ford-Mazda, will also likely be transferred to a new plant.

Tony Pugliese