Sweden-based Volvo Cars has appointed industry veteran Klaus Zellmer as its president and chief executive officer, amid the company’s struggle to revive sales in an increasingly competitive market.
Volvo Cars, majority-owned by China’s Geely Holding, couldn’t meet previous profitability targets due to tariffs, weaker EV demand, and high development costs.
Zellmer, an industry veteran with over 30 years of experience, most recently served as CEO of Volkswagen’s Skoda brand.
He will start in his role no later than October 1, 2027, the company said.
Zellmer will succeed Hakan Samuelsson, who was reappointed in 2025 with the aim of reviving the automaker’s fortunes, having previously led the company from 2012 to 2022.
Samuelsson, whose contract will end next April, has expressed his wish not to work “full time.”
Volvo Cars, last week, held a strategy day where Samuelsson laid out an ambitious roadmap to launch 13 new models between 2026 and 2030 to double the company’s market share.
The company, like its European counterparts, is grappling with mounting Chinese pressures while also navigating the complex task of separating its Western and Chinese technologies to maintain sales in the United States, where its sister brand Polestar is facing a sales ban.
“Zellmer has a strong record of guiding organisations through transformation and changing market conditions,” Volvo Car Chairman Li Shufu said in the statement.
“His experience from both the high-end premium segment and high-volume brands is an excellent fit for Volvo Cars,” Shufu added further.
Apart from bleeding in the automobile market, Volvo has got hammered in the stock market as well, with its shares having gone down more than 45% so far in 2026.
While the automaker has implemented cost-saving measures to alleviate pressure on earnings, a positive development has arisen in the form of increasing demand for the new flagship EX60 electric SUV.
While the sales figures have exceeded Volvo’s initial expectations, things have remained under pressure in the United States and China, two of the world’s largest automobile markets.
In order to protect itself from the Trump tariffs, Volvo Cars has moved the production of its hybrid XC60 to South Carolina, apart from ramping up EX30 output at its Belgium plant.