The Volvo Car Group has just annouced Jim Rowan as its new Chief Executive to replace its former CEO, Hakan Samuelsson.
“Volvo Cars is undergoing a rapid digital transformation, which is why we wanted to bring in someone with global CEO experience from outside the automotive industry,” said Volvo Chairman Eric Li in a statement in Stockholm quoted from Autoblog today, Wednesday, January 5, 2022.
According to the Volvo Car Group, the replacement will be carried out in March.
Jim Rowan, currently CEO of Ember Technologies, the US company that Volvo took over last year.
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Rowan will face the task of directing the Swedish automaker to sell 50 percent pure electric cars by the middle of the decade. Then sell 100 percent electric cars from 2030.
Hakan Samuelsson joined the Volvo Cars Board of Directors in 2010, and was CEO for almost 10 years. His contract will expire this year. Meanwhile, before joining Ember in 2021, Jim Rowan was the CEO of Dyson.
Volvo Cars, which is majority owned by China’s Geely Holdings, said Samuelsson would remain CEO until Jim Rowan takes office in March.
See also: Volvo announces plans to go public in bid to accelerate shift to electric cars
Samuelsson will also leave the Board of Directors, but will continue his thirteenth term as chairman of Polestar, an electric car manufacturer.
Polestar is 49 percent owned by Volvo Cars, which will go public through a merger with acquisition firm Gores Guggenheim. The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of 2022.