Behind the change of coach of Volvo Cars: digitalization, electrification transformation acceleration

Reporters Yang Rangchen, Xia Zhibin, and Shi Yingjing reported in Shanghai

At the beginning of 2022, the core management of Volvo Car Group (hereinafter referred to as "Volvo Cars") underwent a personnel adjustment. "China Business Daily" reporter learned from Volvo Cars that Jim Rowan, who previously served as CEO of Dyson Group, will join Volvo Cars as CEO and president on March 21, 2022.

(Volvo Cars Board Appoints Jim Rowan as CEO and President.)

Regarding the background of Volvo Cars' personnel adjustment, Volvo Cars Chairman Li Shufu said: "Jim Rowan is very welcome as CEO of Volvo Cars. Volvo Cars is accelerating its digital transformation, so we want to bring in people with global CEO experience from outside the automotive industry to help us. ”

The new CEO has extensive experience

"Volvo Cars has conducted a comprehensive and in-depth preparation and screening for this appointment, ensuring that the new CEO has extensive experience in the areas of software, digital transformation and consumer product innovation to ensure that Volvo Cars always has a strong management team during the transformation." Volvo Cars said.

Volvo Cars further said: "Jim has more than 30 years of experience in the global consumer goods and technology sector, and has a successful experience of achieving strong growth and profitability through transformation strategies and customer interactions. He also has extensive experience in digitalization, disruptive technologies, innovation, engineering and supply chain, which will help Volvo Cars achieve its strategic objectives. ”

The reporter learned that Jim served as the chief operating officer of Dyson Group from 2012 to 2017. He then served as CEO of Dyson Group from 2017 to 2020, helping Dyson accelerate its e-commerce strategy, launch a number of innovative products, and expand its global market share.

Prior to joining Dyson, Jim was also The Chief Operating Officer of BlackBerry. In addition to being ceo and board member of Ember Technologies, Jim serves as a senior advisor to global investment firm KKR and is a member of the shareholders' committee of Henkel, a German technology and consumer goods company with global operations.

Commenting on his new CEO and president at Volvo Cars, Jim said: "These are critical times of transformation for the industry as a whole and for consumers. Volvo Cars has a proven track record of innovation, safety and quality, and brings together world-class talent, strong sustainability and technical prowess to be an industry leader in the future. ”

The reporter noted that Volvo Cars has previously announced that the term of the company's current CEO Hakan Samuelsson (Hanken Samuelson) has been extended to the end of 2022, and this appointment is also in line with this point in time.

"I very much welcome Jim in his new role, where he will lead Volvo Cars on a journey of transformation. I would also like to thank all volvo cars employees for working with me over the past 10 years and making extraordinary progress, not only making Volvo Cars one of the fastest growing and most trusted luxury car brands, but also always innovating with a sense of mission to lead the industry. Hakan Samuelsson said.

However, Hakan Samuelsson will remain in office until Jim takes up his new post in March, when he will step down from volvo Car Group's board of directors, after which he will also remain chairman of the board of directors of PoleStar Motors Holdings and complete the de-SPAC merger process.

It is worth mentioning that Polestar, a joint venture between Volvo Cars and its largest shareholder, Geely Holding Group, announced on September 27, 2021 that it will merge with Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) Gores Guggenheim Inc.

Helping Volvo electrify

Volvo Cars was founded in 1927. In 2010, Geely bought Volvo from Ford Motor Company for $1.8 billion, but the two sides have been operating independently. At that time, Volvo Cars sold only 335,000 vehicles for the year, with revenue of SEK 95.7 billion and an annual loss of SEK 5.19 billion.

After 10 years of geely's acquisition, Volvo's global sales have doubled, and while sales in Europe and the United States have grown across the board, China has become Volvo's second largest local market, with sales reaching 5 times that of 10 years ago. In 2020, Volvo Cars generated revenues of SEK 262.8 billion and operating profit of SEK 8.5 billion. Global sales reached 661713 vehicles, with a steady increase in market share and sales growth in the two largest markets, China and the United States.

With the wave of "new four modernizations" sweeping through the entire automotive industry, major car companies have transformed into electrified tracks, and Volvo Cars is no exception. After Jim Rowan took office in March this year, electrification transformation will also be one of its important tasks.

The reporter noted that Volvo can be called the first electrified car company in the traditional luxury brand. As early as 2017, Volvo Cars announced a comprehensive electrification strategy, and in 2025, it will achieve full electrification, when the proportion of pure electric models will reach 50%, and the rest will be hybrid models.

At the Volvo Cars Technology Day conference in June 2021, Hakan Samuelsson, the current CEO of Volvo Cars, clearly stated that Volvo Cars aims to transform into a pure electric luxury car company by 2030 and will fully meet the growing demand for pure electric vehicles.

Later, in October 2021, Volvo Cars announced that it would be listed on the NASDAQ Stockholm Exchange. Regarding the listing, Hanken Samuelson said: "The decision to advance the IPO will help to enhance the brand and accelerate the transformation strategy of full electrification, creating a direct user model and achieving a higher level of safety, and will also help Volvo Cars achieve continuous growth in sales, revenue and profitability." ”

In fact, the electrification report card that Volvo is now handing over is also quite eye-catching. In 2021, Volvo Cars sold 698693 units worldwide, up 5.6% year-on-year. Among them, volvo cars' Recovery series models sold 189216 units, up 63.9% year-on-year, accounting for 27% of the company's total sales. The Recovery series includes pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.

It is worth noting that Volvo Cars' best-selling model belongs to the XC60, and relevant data shows that in 2021, the XC60 sold a total of 215635 units, while the sales volume of this model in 2020 was 191696. The XC40 and XC90 followed, with sales of 201037 and 108231 units, respectively.

Commenting on Jim's upcoming CEO and president of Volvo Cars, Li Shufu said: "Jim is the right person to lead Volvo Cars to accelerate its transformation into the future, and he will push Volvo to achieve the fastest pace of transformation in the industry, not only to become a pure electric car company, but also to establish direct contact with millions of consumers. ”

(Editor: Quartzing Proofreader: Yan Jingning)