Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 39

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE

 

TALK FROM THE TOP

Polestar were doing everything internally. Now we need to have someone who
can personalize the brand.
What is Volvo's sales outlook for the
rest of this year?
We will continue to grow, especially in
China, where the premium market remains strong and we are outperforming our rivals. We have also had positive
development in Europe, where we are
growing faster than the market. That
means we are taking share in Europe. In
the U.S., we are slightly below last year
because we are comparing our volume
with 2016, when we had very strong
sales of the XC90. Because of the arrival
of the XC60, we will have a very strong
second half in the U.S. Therefore, I'm
not too nervous about our U.S. sales.
Overall, I'm quite happy with the development so far. That's why we still expect
to end the year with a new sales record.
Your plant in Torslanda, Sweden, was
stretched by high demand for the
XC90 and V90 and now you're adding
the new version of your top-selling
XC60. How will you keep pace?
We are ramping up to close to 300,000
cars a year [from a little more than
200,000 last year]. We have never been
there so it's very challenging. What will
help is that the XC60 will also be built in
China and we have already moved S90
production from Torslanda to China.
What share of Torslanda's production
will be XC60s?
About half especially in the beginning
because it will only be built there.
How vulnerable is Volvo to Brexit?
While it is a very important market it
doesn't influence us that much. I would,
however, be very nervous if we had production in the UK and were exporting
to Europe from there if there was not a
free-trade agreement.

sions are made in China?
No. There are absolutely no secrets. But
there is no reason to say this is made in
China because we have never said that
about the cars we make in Belgium. If
somebody asks, we don't shy away.
Do the Chinese promote that they are
making Volvos for export?
They use it a bit. They are very proud that
we are exporting. That is positive for China's consumers because they are rather
critical of domestic products and often
believe that imported products are better
How is Volvo seen in China? Is it considered a domestic brand because it
is owned by a Chinese company?
We are seen the same way as Mercedes
and BMW. I think a lot of people know
we have a Chinese owner, but I think
they see us as a foreign, premium brand.
That's how we like to be perceived.
Do you agree that the overall strength
of a brand is going to be a differencemaker as we move toward autonomous cars?
As the car gets more and more complicated, credibility will be important. The
brands carry that credibility. If you buy
a Volvo, you don't have to check the
crash reports to see whether it is safe.
I think everybody knows it will be safe.
This becomes more important as everything gets more complicated. People will
struggle to compare connectivity. It's
difficult to understand the differences.
Some brands will build up credibility in
infotainment and connectivity and they
will convey that. That's how it will work.
How close is the final transaction
price of the XC90 and S90 compared
with rival models from Mercedes-

Benz, BMW and Audi?
In the SUV segment, the XC90 and the
XC60 are on the same level of earnings
as Audi. The S90 and S60 [sedans] are a
different story. We don't have the same
strong position [in the sedan market] so
the distance is bigger. On the other hand,
we have a very good car now with the
new S90. There is absolutely no reason
why we should not be at the same level
as our rivals, but I think we will need time
to close this gap. We definitely need to do
this because that's where the profitability
will be earned.
Opel quit the Russian market in 2015.
What would need to happen for Volvo
to consider doing the same?
We are definitely not planning to exit the
Russian market, although we were in
survival mode for a while. Now it looks a
bit better. It will continue to be an important part of the Volvo story.
Can we expect you to float a stake in
Volvo next year?
We have no current plans for an initial
public offering. What we're doing now
is concentrating on making Volvo a sustainable, profitable, bigger company. If
we were not doing this, we would not
have been able to enter the bond and
equity markets as we did. It is important
to us to have more diversified funding
options than we have now. That's good
for the company.
What are you doing to achieve this?
The latest step is the preference shares,
or equity, which were added to Volvo [in
late 2016]. From that, 5 billion crowns
(more than 527 million euros) will go to
us. It gives Volvo a much more diversified balance sheet. ANE

Is there any satisfaction that comes
from seeing other brands follow Volvo's example of exporting China-built
cars to Europe and the U.S.?
In the beginning, we were a bit nervous,
but we showed that we don't have to
wait until one of our rivals does something. We should be brave enough to do
something first ourselves. And, you have
to get used to that feeling of not having
the comfort of copying somebody else.
Do you avoid telling customers the
long-wheelbase S60 and all S90 ver-

2017

In Partnership with

Because of high demand for the XC90, SUVs accounted for 52% of Volvo's
global sales last year. The automaker expects that number to rise.

www.autonewseurope.com

39


http://www.autonewseurope.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement

Contents
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 1
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 2
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - Contents
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 4
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 5
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 6
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 7
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 8
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 9
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 10
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 11
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 12
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 13
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 14
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 15
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 16
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 17
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 18
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 19
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 20
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 21
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 22
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 23
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 24
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 25
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 26
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 27
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 28
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 29
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 30
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 31
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 32
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 33
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 34
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 35
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 36
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 37
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 38
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 39
Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 40
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