Zhejiang Geely Group is betting its newly acquired, Sweden-based Volvo Car unit can remain foreign enough to win over well-heeled mainland consumers but become Chinese enough to cultivate government support and be attuned to rapidly shifting trends in the booming mainland car market.
'We are a different company now,' Volvo Car China chairman Freeman Shen said. 'We are still a premium European car brand, but we want to become a company that knows China very well and to make it our second home market.'
Perhaps best known for producing safe and straightforward sedans, Volvo hinted at a racier line-up last week with the debut of Universe concept car at the Shanghai car show.
The Universe is larger and more luxurious than anything in the current line-up.
'There are a lot of new elements to that car,' says Shen. 'So far, the feedback has been very positive.'
Volvo, which the privately held Zhejiang Geely bought from Ford for US$1.5 billion last August, this year unveiled plans to sell 200,000 cars on the mainland annually by 2015, up from about 30,000 cars last year.
The company plans to break ground for its first wholly owned mainland car plant in Chengdu in the third quarter and start production in 2013, Shen said in an interview last week on the sidelines of the Shanghai car show.