Li Shufu, chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, met visiting Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf along with Swedish scientists and businessmen in Zhejiang's capital Hangzhou, where Geely is based, and answered questions concerning Volvo's future and whether it will cause job losses in Sweden.
Li said in the past three months, the new Board of Directors held two meetings, and the Board and management decided to build China into Volvo's second home market. It announced the management team in China and plans to set up three plants in Chengdu, Shanghai and Daqing. Li said Volvo's layout in China "is well underway."
Li said that Volvo's strategy in the future is local development, local production and local sales.
"Europe's Volvos are to be produced in Europe. Volvos in the Chinese market are to be produced in China," he said.
The delegation of King Carl XVI Gustaf and the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences was invited by the Chinese Academy of Engineering to visit China.
Chinese carmaker Geely Holdings Group Co. Ltd. and Ford Motor Co. signed the acquisition deal on March 28 and Geely took over Volvo this August after paying 1.3 billion U.S. dollars.
Geely's 100 percent ownership of Volvo provided the Chinese automaker with Volvo's nine vehicle models, three of its latest production platforms as well as production capacity of 600,000 units and more than 2,000 sales locations worldwide.
As soon as the agreement was completed, the Chinese group named Li Shufu, chairman of the board for Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, as the chairman of Volvo. Volvo's brand value is estimated at 2 billion U.S. dollars.
By People's Daily Online (China)
