Ford is apparently pretty serious about finding a new home for Volvo—so serious, in fact, that it seems a tentative agreement has now been reached between it and “preferred bidder” Geely, of the People’s Republic of China. More after the jump.

Previously, the main point of contention had been an intellectual property rights issue. In order to continue to operate Volvo in a Volvo-like manner, Geely (or anyone) need access to things considered part of and protected by Ford’s IPR. The two companies have now tentatively agreed that this shouldn’t be a problem with regard to technology required to satisfactorily produce Volvos in the future.

Nothing official has been signed yet, but both companies coming forward and confirming this agreement is now on the table is a positive sign for Volvo’s future.

Meanwhile, Saab’s future still hangs in limbo. They’re now cagily saying they’ve got other buyers interested now that the Koenigsegg deal has fallen through, but they haven’t named any names. At one point, before the Koenigsegg deal came into focus, Geely was one of the companies mentioned as having in interest in Saab as well.

[WSJ]