Recently, there are media reports that Volvo's board of directors has approved the appointment of Jim Rowan as the new CEO and president of Volvo Cars, who will succeed Hakan Samuelsson.
It is understood that Rowan will take on a new role starting March 21 this year, and he is currently the CEO of Ember Technologies. Rowan had earlier served as COO of BlackBerry, later as COO of Dyson Vacuum Cleaner between 2012 and 2017, and as CEO of Dyson 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.
It is reported that 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 and only sell electric vehicles; in 2040, it will strive to become a climate zero-load benchmark enterprise, and all pure electric models will only be sold online.
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