Volvo Plots Strategy to Boost Car Sales in China

CEO Hakan Samuelsson tells the Financial Times that Volvo Car Corp. plans a three-prong plan to hike its flagging sales in China and predicts an improvement by mid-2013.

Volvo intends to provide better training to dealer staff and revamp its marketing to acquaint Chinese consumers with the company's strong safety reputation, according to Samuelsson. He says the Swedish brand, which is owned by Zhejiang Geely Automobile Holding Co., also aims to expand its distribution network into more regions of China.

The Chinese market is more important to Volvo than ever, the FT notes. The brand's sales across Europe dropped 10% year on year to 212,800 vehicles in the January-November period.

But Volvo volume in China fell 9% to 37,600 units in the same period. The company said in August it would likely miss its goal of selling 200,000 cars in that country by 2015, up from 47,000 units last year.