Swedish carmaker Volvo has appointed a new CEO. Jim Rowan will take over as CEO from Håkan Samuelsson in March 2022. Geely Automobil Holding is the major owner of VolvoCars. The Norwegian Oil Revenue Fund(NBIM) is a large owner in Volvo AB, another Swedish vehicle producer, reports Nordic News.
Under Håkan Samuelsson, Volvo Cars initiated the farewell to the combustion engine – with the goal of making the brand a purely electric car manufacturer by 2030 and accounting for 50% of all sales being electric by 2025.
According to Volvo Cars, Samuelsson’s contract ends in March 2022 after a ten-year tenure, at which time also leave the Volvo Cars board. He will stay in the Volvo family shortly to accompany the electric car subsidiary Polestar in its planned IPO. The Swedish CEO speaks fluent German due to his past in the VW Group. After he guides Polestar through the SPAC process, he will retire. He will have turned 71 in March.
When Jim Rowan takes over as CEO and president of Volvo Cars the British citizen will not be drawing on experience in the car industry. He is currently, among other things, CEO of Ember Technologies (a maker of a smart cup with temperature control), a board member at PCH International, a senior advisor at the investment company KKR and, since April 2021, a member of Henkel’s shareholders’ committee. Previously, he spent eight years at Dyson – as a chief operating officer from 2012 to 2017, and CEO from 2017 to 2020.
