Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holding Group, says the company’s deal with Volvo hasn’t hit any hiccups so far, which could mean consumer confidence in used S60Rs in New Jersey could be on the uptick.

Geely doesn’t want to talk too much about the Volvo deal right now. The Chinese company says there are too many rumors circulating around the acquisition, so discussing it probably wouldn’t help. The possibility of a merger was first announced by Ford, currently Volvo’s parent, in October.

In early December, indications of progress began to appear, as Ford and Geely reached an agreement regarding an intellectual rights issue that concerned Volvo, which some industry analysts believed was the deal’s biggest obstacle.

Lately, Geely has been shopping around for transmissions for its vehicles with larger engines – motors with a displacement of bigger than 1.5 liters. The Chinese automaker seems to have taken an interest in DSI, an Australian manufacturer, meaning some Volvos might become more international than ever before.

The S60 could be one of the Volvos to receive an Australian transmission, as the all-new second generation model – whose production will begin in Ghent, Belgium, during the summer of 2010 – won’t come with an engine that’s smaller than 1.6 liters big.

“The all-new Volvo S60 is sculpted to move you,” says Stephen Odell, CEO of Volvo. “It looks and drives like no other Volvo before and the car’s technology will help you to be safer and more confident behind the wheel.”

Odell’s claims are ambitious. Not because they seem exaggerated, but because the first generation S60R was quite an automobile. In 2003, Car and Driver tracked a 2004 S60R and it did nothing but produce results.

Hans Nilsson, R-car line manager, told the publication that Volvo spent 10 times more on the S60R than it had on any past R model, the most recent having been the 1995 T-5R wagon at the time. All that extra money got the Swedish manufacturer a 300-horsepower, all-wheel drive, Brembo brake-equipped powerhouse with a hefty price tag of roughly $37,500. As pricey as that may have sounded back then, the Mercedes C32 AMG of the same year was over $14,500 more expensive, making the Volvo a pretty good deal.

Though the second generation Swedish S60 will be built in Belgium, contain an Australian transmission and will likely be sold by a Chinese company, news of the Geely deal could boost the popularity of used Volvo S60Rs in New Jersey.