Li Shufu becomes new Chairman of the Board at Volvo Car - and the Swedish car maker will remain headquartered in Gothenburg.

• Geely will close Volvo deal in third quarter

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, the second largest private automobile manufacturer in China, on Thursday announced the top positions in the new board of directors Volvo Car.

Geely’s founder and current chairman Li Shufu will become Chairman of the Board at Volvo Car Corporation, pending completion of the acquisition of the company from Ford Motor Company.

Hans-Olov Olsson, a former President and Chief Executive of the Swedish car maker, will become Vice-Chairman.

"We have made significant progress in assembling the team that will develop Volvo Cars under Geely's ownership. Today's board appointments underline my personal commitment to this famous company”, Li Shufu said in a stetement.

Geely also said that Volvo Cars will remain headquartered in Gothenburg, southwest Sweden, with management autonomy to execute on its business plan.

In 2009 The 400 Richest Chinese by American Forbes, Li Shufu was ranked the number 44th richest person in Mainland China and had a net worth of US 1.3 billion dollar.

On 28 March 2010, Geely signed a deal worth 1.8 billion dollar to buy Volvo Cars from American automobile manufacturer Ford Motor Company. It was the largest foreign purchase by a Chinese car manufacturer. The Chinese firm expects to close the acquisition in the third quarter after the European Commission cleared the takeover earlier this week.

Geely plans to expand Volvo's presence in China, now the world's largest car market.

Geely has become one of China's biggest private car makers since launching its auto manufacturing business in 1997. It has annual production capacity of 300,000 cars but has sold fewer than 200,000 abroad since 1997.

The announcement follows the separate disclosure by Ford Motor Company that Stephen Odell, currently CEO of Volvo Cars, will become Chairman and CEO of Ford of Europe.