Volvo Adjusts Strategy to Boost U.S. Sales

Volvo Car Corp. is doubling its marketing budget in the U.S. and improving its model mix there in an effort to reverse last year's 10% drop in sales, the Financial Times reports.

CEO Hakan Samuelsson tells the British newspaper the company will tailor models more specifically to American tastes and vary its model offerings in different parts of the country. He says Volvo also will expand its new-vehicle leasing operations. New 2015 models being introduced to the U.S. market include the V60 Sportswagon and redesigned XC90 crossover.

Last year Volvo's global sales rose 1% to 427,800 units, advanced by a 46% jump to 61,100 deliveries in China only 77 units fewer the company sold in the U.S.

Volvo still hopes to reach worldwide volume of 800,000 units annually by 2020, almost twice last year's level. But Samuelsson tells the FT that volume is less important than selling "attractive" cars. He says the company now expects to reach annual sales in China of 200,000 units by 2020, five years later than previously forecast.

Samuelsson criticizes the decision by predecessor CEO Stefan Jacoby to drop Volvo's V40 small hatch in the U.S. The company is unlikely to achieve its annual sales target of 100,000 units in America without broadening its product lineup there, Samuelsson says.