Sweden – The OEM has created three new business regions, each led by a senior vice-president (SVP) and member of the executive management team. Each of the three SVPs will have total operational responsibility for his region. Volvo Cars has also established an SVP role for its chief information officer.
Encompassing North America, South America and Canada, the Americas region will be led by Lex Kerssemakers, formerly SVP product strategy and vehicle line management. Kerssemakers has relocated to the US.
The Asia region will include China, the largest sales country for Volvo Cars, as well as other fast-growing markets in the region. It will be led by Lars Danielson, currently SVP Volvo Cars China Operations. The vehicle-maker says this change reflects its “upcoming focus on expanding sales to the broader Asian region”.
The EMEA region will be run by Anders Gustafsson, currently president of Volvo Cars Sweden.
Meanwhile, Klas Bendrik, chief information officer, will take the newly created SVP position which Volvo says underlines “the key role technology will play for carmakers in future”.
Alain Visser, SVP marketing, sales and service, bears global strategic responsibility for driving the overall commercial performance of the company. He will define Volvo’s global strategies and ensure that marketing activities are consistent and effective across the three regions.
“Volvo is planning a significant volume increase in the medium term. We need a clear as well as a market focused management structure in order to secure this ambitious goal,” commented Håkan Samuelsson, Volvo's president and chief executive. “That is what we have put in place today.”
