Volvo to invest $11b
Chinese-owned car maker Volvo said Friday it hopes to become a global luxury brand and turn China into a major manufacturing base by investing $11 billion over the next five years.
The Sweden-based firm, which was bought by China's Geely last year, plans to build a new assembly plant in the southwestern city of Chengdu and possibly another in northeastern Daqing as it expands its China operations, chief executive Stefan Jacoby told reporters.
Volvo wants to boost annual sales to 800,000 cars globally by 2020 -- more than double the 373,000 sold last year -- with half of that growth coming from China, the world's biggest auto market, Jacoby said.
The company said it also aims to have 20 percent of the Chinese luxury car market by 2015 but did not provide a figure for its current share.
"We are committed to make a success here in China," Jacoby told reporters.
"We're in the middle of a big transition -- a big transformation. We are redefining the brand," he said in an earlier interview with the Wall Street Journal.
Geely, which bought Volvo from Ford in August for $1.5 billion, said in September it planned to increase Volvo sales to 300,000 cars a year in China alone.
Comments