China's Geely completes takeover of Swedish carmaker Volvo.

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Chinese car maker Geely Holdings said Monday it had formally completed a deal to buy Sweden's Volvo Cars from US auto giant Ford at a ceremony in London.

The Swedish brand will keep its headquarters and plants in Sweden and Belgium, and its management will retain its autonomy under a board headed by Geely Group chairman Li Shufu, the Chinese company said in a statement.

"This is a historic day for Geely, which is extremely proud to have acquired Volvo Cars," Li said in the statement.

"This famous Swedish premium brand will remain true to its core values of safety, quality, environmental care and modern Scandinavian design."

Li earlier told China's official Xinhua news agency that he hoped to see the struggling Swedish brand regain its former strong reputation.

"After the takeover, Geely remains Geely and Volvo is still Volvo. The relationship between the two companies is brotherhood and not a parent-and-child relationship," Li was quoted as saying.

Geely, which first agreed to take over Volvo in March, said in the statement it paid a total of 1.5 billion dollars to Ford for Volvo, 1.3 billion in cash and an issued note of 200 million dollars.

The final price was lower than the 1.8 billion dollars price tag announced on March 28, and Geely said it reflected "adjustments in areas such as pension obligations and working capital."

Geely also said it would invest 900 million dollars to improve the brand.

Both the European Union's competition watchdog and China's commerce ministry gave their approval for the takeover last month.

Geely said Stefan Jacoby, who is currently the head of Volkswagen in America, would become Volvo's new president and chief executive.

"Our employees, suppliers, dealers and above all our customers can be confident that Volvo will preserve its special status as the industry leader in vehicle safety and innovation, even as it pursues new market opportunities," he said.

Founded in 1927, Volvo was sold to Ford in 1999 for 6.4 billion dollars.

Its decade under the US auto giant was plagued by dwindling sales. It sold 334,800 cars in last year, but sales have been picking up this year.

Geely has said it plans to expand the presence of Volvo -- known for its sturdy, family-friendly vehicles -- in China, now the world's largest car market.

It also plans to target the European and North American markets.

Swedish union IF Metall said it welcomed that Volvo's headquarters would stay in Sweden and hoped the carmaker's entry into the Chinese market would have a positive effect for employment.

"It is good that the deal has now been completed. It gives peace of mind to the employees who have been waiting for a long time for a clear answer," union chairman Stefan Loefven said in a statement.

Loefven, who is scheduled to visit China in coming months, added that the union expected the new owners would work according to the Swedish model "in which unions and businesses have close and developed relationships."

Geely, founded in 1986, has become one of China's biggest private car makers since launching its auto manufacturing business in 1997.

It sold 326,710 cars last year, but has never managed to sell more than 200,000 cars abroad.

Dong Yang, executive vice president of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, told Xinhua that maintaining Volvo's brand and product quality would be a difficult task.

He added that raising Volvo's market share in China and adapting the European brand to China would not be easy.

"All of these things should be realised step-by-step through hard work," Dong was quoted as saying.

Shares in Hong Kong-listed Geely Automobile rose 5.86 percent to 3.07 Hong Kong dollars (40 US cents) on Monday.