Volvo Cars is restructuring its Americas enterprise and spinning the U.S. and Canada markets right into a separate unit.
Anders Gustafsson, head of Volvo Cars Americas and CEO of Volvo Car USA, will surrender his duties March 1, three folks briefed on the matter advised Automotive News.
Michael Cottone, a 21-year Volvo veteran and Western Region vp, will take excessive job within the U.S. and Canada. Cottone, 43, will report back to a Volvo Cars business govt, to not CEO Jim Rowan.
It’s unclear if Gustafsson plans to proceed with Volvo or return to Sweden.
Volvo Car USA confirmed the reorganization to Automotive News.
“To support and ensure a strong focus on Volvo Cars’ ambitious goals for growth, full electrification and an omnichannel customer experience, the Americas region structure will evolve, creating a dedicated organization for the USA & Canada,” a spokesman stated in an e-mail.
Gustafsson’s exit shocked Volvo’s retailers, who appreciated the chief’s straight-shooter method.
“The dealers are sick about it; they don’t understand it,” a vendor stated. “In your lifetime, you come across very few charismatic leaders that can lead and deliver, and [Gustafsson] is one of them.”
Cottone’s elevation comes at a essential juncture for the enterprise.
As Volvo pivots to an all-electric model by 2030 and experiments with a brand new gross sales mannequin, Cottone faces a vendor community nonetheless determining what the brand new technique means for his or her enterprise.
The Swedish automaker has laid out a technique to promote battery-powered fashions on-line via volvocars.com and vendor web sites — a prospect that has made some retailers nervous.
While the pandemic and provide shortages have been good for retailer margins, the brand new 12 months brings change. Cottone and his group must navigate financial headwinds as inflation and rates of interest chunk into demand for big-ticket luxurious autos.
In 2021, Volvo Cars stated it deliberate to promote its battery-electric autos via an internet mannequin and ship them to dealerships quite than having retailers inventory a whole bunch of latest automobiles.
Meanwhile, Cottone should execute on the model’s aggressive product rollout whereas sustaining the model’s present market momentum.
Source: www.autonews.com