Volvo Cars has announced the appointment of Jim Rowan as its new CEO and president from March 21, 2022. Rowan is currently the CEO and board member of Ember Technologies since February 2021, and before that, the CEO of the Dyson Group between 2017-2020 as well as COO from 2012-2017.
He’ll bring to Volvo over three decades of global experience in the consumer and technology sectors, and his extensive past work with digitalisation, disruption, innovation, engineering and supply chains will be valuable for the future of the Swedish carmaker to “realise strategic ambitions.”
Rowan’s time at Dyson has resulted in an acceleration of the company’s e-commerce strategy, the launch of several new products and an increase in market share. Prior to Dyson, he was also COO of BlackBerry.
“I am very pleased to welcome Jim Rowan as the new CEO of Volvo Cars. Volvo Cars is going through a rapid transformation of digitalisation which is why we wanted to bring in someone with global CEO experience from outside the automotive industry. Jim is the right person to accelerate Volvo Cars into the future – enabling it to become the fastest transformer in its field and a fully electric company with millions of direct consumer relationships,” said Eric Li, chairperson of the board of Volvo Cars.
Rowan succeeds Håkan Samuelsson, who first joined Volvo Cars as a member of the board in 2010 and has held the role of CEO and president since October 2012. Samuelsson’s imminent departure comes as his contract is due to expire at the end of 2022, but he will stay in his role until Rowan takes over. Following this, we will leave the Volvo Car AB board and continue as the chairperson of Polestar to see it through the de-SPAC process as part of a public listing initiative on the Nasdaq.
Samuelsson leaves behind a strong legacy at Volvo, as during his near decade-long tenure, the carmaker has seen rapid growth in terms of sales and the number of models in the portfolio. He also accelerated Volvo’s push towards an electric future and intention to go public.
“I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Håkan Samuelsson for his commitment and determination over the past ten years at Volvo Cars. Håkan has, together with his management team, created a renewed and strong product line, re-established Volvo as a premium brand that is well placed for the future, and enabled the successful listing of Volvo Cars,” continued Li.
“I am delighted to join Volvo Cars at such an exciting time for the company and at such a transformational time for both the industry and consumers. The strong track record of Volvo Cars across innovation, safety and quality, coupled with world-class talent and inspiring sustainability and technology capabilities, places it in the driver’s seat for the road ahead,” said Rowan.
“I am pleased to welcome Jim to his new role to continue the great journey Volvo Cars is on. I would also like to extend my thanks to all Volvo Cars employees for the incredible progress we have made together in the past 10 years – for not only making Volvo one of the fastest growing and most trusted premium automotive brands, but for always innovating and leading with purpose. I wish you all the best for the exciting years to come,” commented Samuelsson.
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I guess the former vaccuum cleaner CEO will purchase a washing machine company instead.
Are you implying ‘laundry for $$$’?
Ex-Dyson eh? So the car will suck better.