Volvo drives into China market thanks to Geely, but concerns remain

• Source: Global Times
• [16:34 March 30 2010]
• Comments

Nevertheless, Ollevik is glad to hear the promise from Geely Chairman Li Shufu that, "Geely is Geely and Volvo is Volvo"  which in other words means to keep the quality and price of Volvo. He doesn't want to see Volvo become a cheap car.

While the union at Volvo was hesitant about the deal in the beginning, it later supported it.

"We weren't so excited about it, but most people think it can go on the right track," said Mikael Sallstrom, chairman in Volvo manufacturing club.

"I will not call it worry, but we feel well about a certain uncertainty. That becomes a huge job to inform our members about the deal,"  said Sallstrom.

The union now hopes that Volvo can begin to rehire people. During the press conference, Manager Stephen Odell said Volvo plans to increase production to 390,000 cars a year, up from the current 340,000.

"We really hope people can get their jobs back. Anyway, Geely is buying a company that has begun to earn money again," said Sallstrom.

"Geely's business plan is that Volvo will keep its production in Europe, the main office still stay in Gothenburg and we should continue with research and development. We have got answers to our important questions, so we said yes to the deal,"  Sallstrom explained.

However, jobs are still a concern in the long run, as journalist Froberg says, production line jobs can go to China and other countries with inexpensive labor.

In the meantime, only time will tell how Geely develops the Volvo brand in China, something everyone around the world will be watching and waiting.