automotive

Volvo Gets New Global Head of Marketing

Volvo Car Group has appointed Björn Annwall its new SVP of marketing, sales and service. Annwall, who starts on Oct. 15, replaces Alain Visser, who has left to take a new position as VP of global marketing and sales at sibling company, Chinese dealership network Geely Auto Group. Both are owned by Zhejiang Geely Holdings (ZGH). He had been at Volvo for three years.

Annwall is an outsider, but one with experience with the brand, having come from management consultancy McKinsey & Co, where, as a partner, he worked  Volvo for the last five years. As such, he worked on Volvo's re-introduction worldwide — its global development plan — after the brand was acquired by ZGH in 2010, when Ford spun it off to the Chinese company for a huge loss ten years after having acquired it.

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Said Annwall, in a statement, “Volvo is at a very exciting juncture in its history. I am looking forward to helping the company further establish its position as a truly global premium car maker.” 

Håkan Samuelsson, president and CEO of Volvo's car division said Annwall comes aboard as the automaker moves into the second phase of its development plan. He said, in the statement, that the goal of the plan is to move the company toward a medium term goal of increasing annual sales to around 800,000 cars. 

The company, which recently launched its newest addition, the XC90 SUV, says global sales of Volvo Cars have been strong, and peaked last year at 465,866, a 8.9% lift compared to 2013. The company has forecast that sales this year will be up to 500,000, another record high.

The release says Annwall will help Volvo “implement the most comprehensive product revival program in the company’s 88 year history.” Volvo it is planning to renew its product lineup over the next four years, a process that will include adding larger cars, and premium smaller cars. Volvo says the new XC90 SUV has gotten 65,000 pre-orders, while the company had expected to sell only 50,000 this year. 

Volvo Cars of North America just broke ground on its first U.S. factory in Berkeley County, S.C. The plant, which Volvo says will have capacity for 100,000 cars per year, will go online in 2018, and handle global production of the S60 Sedan, which is one of the new vehicles being developed in Gothenburg, Sweden. 

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