Volvo Cars chief executive Stefan Jacoby said he expects the company to grow sales this year with new models putting the company on the offensive rather than the defensive.
He told Austria’s Salzburger Nachtrichten newspaper that the Swedish carmaker, now owned by China’s Geely, would sell more than the 373,500 vehicles last year, adding: “At least one more, and if it is an emergency I will buy one myself.”
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Jacoby added that Volvo’s Chinese owners have fostered “professional and deep” cooperation and that their involvement would strengthen the Volvo brand.
Geely’s purchase of Ford Motor Co’s Volvo unit last year marked China’s biggest acquisition of a foreign car maker. Jacoby said there are no plans for low-cost model specifically for the Chinese market.
He added: “We are a global premium seller and we design and build our products for a global customer base.
“That does not rule out specific models for specific markets. Generally European customers want more compact cars while Chinese and American customers want bigger models.”
