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Volvo Automobiles has introduced again former boss Håkan Samuelsson to offer the Geely-owned Swedish carmaker with a “regular hand” wanted to navigate geopolitical turbulence and cut-throat competitors.
Samuelsson, who turned 74 this month, served because the group’s chief government for a decade till 2022. The corporate’s share worth has fallen 66 per cent up to now three years below Jim Rowan because it struggled with the trade’s slower-than-expected shift to electric vehicles.
“The automobile trade is below strain from many instructions,” Samuelsson, who will begin a two-year time period on Monday, mentioned in an announcement on Sunday. “I’m honoured to return at such a defining second for Volvo Automobiles.”
Rowan’s abrupt resignation got here after he not too long ago warned of decrease profitability and a “very difficult 12 months” forward for the corporate, partly due to the uncertainty brought on by US President Donald Trump’s commerce insurance policies. Rowan couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.
“The trade might be below the very best strain ever. It’s not simply inside issues for Volvo. In that point, you solely have one probability. You must play a secure card,” mentioned an individual near the Gothenburg-based carmaker.
Analysts have mentioned the carmaker can be hit laborious by a 25 per cent tariff the US plans to impose on international automobile imports from April 2 because it depends on exports from Europe for gross sales within the US.
Relying on the extent of the tariffs, Volvo Automobiles has mentioned it needs to extend manufacturing in South Carolina. However that won’t fully protect it from tariffs as a result of even locally-produced automobiles use a excessive quantity of non-US content material. The corporate can also be uncovered to a authorities ban on Chinese language software program in electrical autos within the US.
To handle the EU’s increased tariffs on imports of electrical autos made in China, Volvo Automobiles may also produce its EX30 EV mannequin in its Ghent plant in Belgium, in addition to in China from this 12 months.
Geely’s founder Eric Li, who’s the chair of Volvo Automotive’s board, cited Samuelsson’s “industrial depth” and “confirmed management” as a purpose for bringing him again.
“Because the trade enters an much more complicated part, we consider his expertise and regular hand are precisely what is required to strengthen Volvo Automobiles’ world place,” Li added.
An individual accustomed to the board’s considering mentioned that Volvo Automobiles wanted to be ready for a “a lot more durable future” that may require cost-cutting and Samuelsson to attempt to unlock extra benefits from the Chinese language possession, together with entry to cheaper suppliers.
An individual near the corporate mentioned Geely had been annoyed with Volvo Automotive’s valuation even from the time of its preliminary public providing in Stockholm in 2021, which Samuelsson oversaw.
Along with his regular file, the individual mentioned Samuelsson was additionally standard with each staff and automobile sellers.
The Swedish carmaker final 12 months deserted plans to promote solely electrical automobiles by the tip of the last decade.
Volvo Automobiles may also be hit by the EU’s leisure of emissions targets since it could lose a few of the income it earned from promoting credit to rivals that have been lagging behind it in lowering carbon emissions.
