According to European Automotive News, on January 4, local time, Volvo Cars announced that it had appointed Jim Rowan as the new president and CEO of Volvo, succeeding Hakan Samuelsson.
Samuelsen joined Volvo's board of directors in 2010 and served as CEO of the automaker for nearly 10 years, accelerating Volvo's "renaissance," according to the data.
Volvo said in a statement that Rowan, 56, will officially take office on March 21, 2022, while Samuelson, 70, will leave Volvo's board of directors but will still serve as chairman of the electric car brand Polestar until the end of the year.
According to previous news, after the completion of volvo car IPO, PoleStar is also actively seeking listing and hopes to complete the "backdoor" listing in 2022. Therefore, Samuelson is expected to work to the topstar listing.
The incoming Rowan, who served as BlackBerry's COO from 2007 to 2012, expanded BlackBerry's operations and supply chain to $20 billion in annual revenue. He then served as Dyson's Chief Operating Officer from 2012 to 2017 and as Dyson's CEO from 2017 to 2020.
During his tenure as CEO of Dyson, Rowan helped Dyson grow revenue from $1.6 billion to $7.3 billion per year, expanded dyson's product categories into beauty care and indoor air purification, and expanded the product line of commercial hand dryers and Dyson cordless vacuum cleaners. Rowan also helped create Dyson Retail to accelerate its expansion into China and other asian markets.
During Rowan's tenure, Dyson also tried to develop electric vehicles, even spending £500 million on it. However, Dyson has since chosen to suspend the electric vehicle project, on the grounds that it does not see the commercial feasibility of building electric vehicles.
In addition, Rowan will serve as CEO of the consumer division of Ember Technologies, a manufacturer of smart temperature control cups, from February 16, 2021.
Based on Rowan's personal resume, he seems to be particularly good at expanding his business, and has gone through the stage of Dyson's car manufacturing, especially understanding of consumer electronic products and the market.
For the upcoming Rowan, Volvo said that Rowan's experience in digitalization, supply chain and innovation will help the company achieve the next strategy.
According to Volvo's electrification strategy released in 2020, it plans to achieve a sales ratio of pure electric models and hybrid models by 50% by 2025, and 50% of the vehicles will be sold online; in 2030, it will become a pure electric luxury car company, selling only electric vehicles; and in 2040, it will strive to become a benchmark enterprise for zero-load climate, and all pure electric models will only be sold online.
For Rowan, this is a huge challenge and an opportunity. For Volvo, Rowan, who chose to cross the border, may also be a step to accelerate the transformation.