Volvo Names New Chief for U.S. Sales

Volvo Car Corp. has appointed Anders Gustafsson to head its U.S. operations, beginning Sept. 15.

Gustafsson, 48, currently oversees Volvo’s Europe, Middle East and Africa region, which accounts for more than half the company’s worldwide sales. He will swap jobs with Lex Kerssemakers, 57, who has guided the brand’s resurgence in the U.S. for nearly three years.

Gustafsson, described as a “retail man,” will arrive as Volvo readies its first U.S. assembly plant. His mission will be to surpass Volvo’s previous sales peak in the American market: 139,100 units sold in 2004. The company targets 150,000 sales per year by 2020.

Last year Volvo’s sales in the U.S. climbed 18% to 82,700 cars. Volume through the first seven months of 2017 declined 9% to 41,400 units, mainly because of short supplies of cars from Volvo factories in Europe and China.