Ford and Volvo haven't made any official announcements, but the Chinese media and Britain's Autocar are reporting that automaker Geely has agreed to purchase Volvo Car Corporation.

The deal has been in the works for some time, as Ford auctions off its formerly vast empire. In the past two years, Ford has sold off Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and a chunk of its stake in Mazda.

The report says Geely will invest about $10 billion in Volvo and will produce a new vehicle with a Volvo badge in China. It also indicates the deal will only be made public when (and if, given Geely's track record of inking deals to make cars) the automakers can agree on technology transfers.

That could be a tricky situation for Ford, which has spun much of its current large car lineup from Volvo. The 2010 Ford Taurus, 2009 Lincoln MKS, 2010 Lincoln MKT and 2009 Ford Flex all owe their body structures and all-wheel-drive systems, in part, to Volvo designs.

Ford purchased Volvo for $6.5 billion in 1999 and analysts told Autocar that a sale price of no less than $3 billion is expected.

[Autocar]