US auto giant Ford Motor Company announced on Wednesday it had agreed terms to sell its subsidiary Volvo Cars to China's Geely Automobile for a reported 2.0 billion dollars (1.4 billion euros).

The deal, expected to be completed early next year, will end Ford's decade-long association with the Swedish brand.

Here are some key facts about Volvo:

- Its headquarters are based in Gothenburg, western Sweden. The company's current chief executive is Briton Stephen Odell.

- The first Volvo car came off the assembly line in April 14, 1927.

- US giant Ford snapped up Volvo Cars in 1999 for 6.45 billion dollars from truckmaker Volvo Group as it amassed a wealth of upmarket brands including British luxury marques Jaguar and Land Rover.

- Ford's aim in buying Volvo was to compete with BMW and Mercedes-Benz but also to achieve better economies of scale by sharing research and development costs.

- Volvo posted a pre-tax loss of 1.46 billion dollars (1 billion euros) in 2008, according to Ford's financial report from that year. The company last made a profit in 2005 when it earned 377 million dollars.

- Analysts say unfavourable exchange rates, rising petrol prices and other car companies catching up on safety standards -- where the Swedish brand had built a strong reputation -- hit Volvo's sales.

- Volvo Cars sold 374,297 vehicles in 2008, a fall of 18.3 percent from the previous year.

- Volvo built just over 366,000 cars last year. 177,000 of those were made in Sweden.

- Volvo Cars employed some 20,000 people worldwide at the start of 2009.