Volvo may not become the second Chinese-owned company with a presence in the U.S. auto market, after all.

ABC News reports that talks between Ford and Chinese automaker Geely "have stalled over disagreements on intellectual property." The two companies have been "discussing a possible deal" in which Geely would buy control of Volvo "for 10 months."

The problem, according to Autoblog, is that Ford may want to sell its interest in the slow-selling Swedish luxury brand, but it doesn't want to part with the rights to much of what Volvo builds. "Because Volvo is so tightly integrated into Ford's product development, any buyer of the safety-minded car maker would have inside knowledge of the Blue Oval's future product plans and access to its latest and greatest technology. The buyer would also have direct access to Ford's vehicle architectures, since so many are shared between itself and Volvo."

Several Chinese automakers are believed to be interested in the U.S. market, but the companies haven't yet attempted to build a car that can pass U.S. safety and emissions tests. "If Geely does in fact purchase Volvo," Autoblog notes, the company would gain control of Volvo's designs,
"which pass both European and U.S. crash test standards with flying colors, it could give China's largest automaker a better chance of entering the coveted U.S. market. And helping Chinese automakers enter the States probably isn't at the top of the list of things Ford wants to do right now."

General Motors recently sold its Hummer brand to a Chinese company. "Last week," Reuters notes, "a former Ford engineer, Xiang Dong Yu, was arrested and charged in the United States with stealing trade secrets from Ford and using them to try to get work with Chinese auto makers."

Ford could decide to simply hold onto Volvo. The company has been losing money throughout the recent economic downturn, but its prospects seem to be improving. Bloomberg reports, "Volvo's U.S. sales rose 16 percent in September, bucking the 23 percent drop in the auto market. Year-to-date sales fell 22 percent through last month, compared with an industrywide decline of 27 percent."

If you're in the market for a new car, check out the U.S. News rankings of this year's best cars as well as this month's best car deals.