Volvo Cars strengthens focus on the Swedish market
Volvo Cars strengthens focus on the Swedish market
Volvo Car Corporation acquired the Sixth Swedish National Pension Fund shares in Volvofinans Bank AB.
Volvo Car Corporation ("Volvo Cars") and the sixth AP Fund signed an agreement on December 28th 2015 to acquire the Fund's 40% stake in Volvofinans Bank AB ("Volvofinans"), the leading bank in Sweden in car financing. All regulatory approvals were obtained on August 4th 2016. With this acquisition, worth 1.8 billion SEK, Volvofinans is now owned 50% by Volvo Cars and 50% by the Swedish authorized retailers through the company AB Volverkinvest.
“Volvofinans is an important part of the overall offer to Volvo Cars' customers in Sweden, together with among others the authorized retailers, Volvia insurance, Hertz car rental and Sunfleet car sharing. We see that our customers are not only interested in the actual car purchase but the whole car ownership experience, of which financing is an important corner stone. Through this acquisition, we show a long-term commitment to Volvofinans," says Håkan Samuelsson, President and CEO of Volvo Cars.
“The acquisition means that Volvofinans will continue to offer attractive finance solutions, both to private and corporate customers. This shared, equal ownership with the Swedish retailers enables us to secure both parties equal influence in the Volvofinans business," says Kristian Elvefors, Managing Director of Volvo Car Sweden, the Swedish sales company.
“Volvo Cars' brand essence 'Designed around you' has also been a strong driving force for Volvo Cars Financial Services in pursuing customer and retailer simplicity and convenience at purchase and during the ownership of a Volvo car. The acquisition of 40% in Volvofinans and a close and integrated partnership with the Volvo retailers in Sweden has been an important step in that strategy."
"Together with the Volvofinans joint venture, a unique set-up in the USA with VCFS US LLC and the joint ventures in Germany for car finance (VCFS Germany GmbH) and insurance (VCIS Germany GmbH) secure us a further growth in key strategic markets," says Pascal Bellemans, Vice President Volvo Car Financial Services.
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Volvo Car Group in 2015
For the 2015 financial year, Volvo Car Group recorded an operating profit of 6,620 MSEK (2,128 MSEK in 2014). Revenue over the period amounted to 164,043 MSEK (137,590 MSEK). In 2015, global sales reached a record 503,127 cars, an increase of 8 per cent versus 2014. The record sales and operating profit cleared the way for Volvo Car Group to continue investing in its global transformation plan.
About Volvo Car Group
Volvo has been in operation since 1927. Today, Volvo Cars is one of the most well-known and respected car brands in the world with sales of 503,127 in 2015 in about 100 countries. Volvo Cars has been under the ownership of the Zhejiang Geely Holding (Geely Holding) of China since 2010. It formed part of the Swedish Volvo Group until 1999, when the company was bought by Ford Motor Company of the US. In 2010, Volvo Cars was acquired by Geely Holding.
As of December 2015, Volvo Cars had almost 29,000 employees worldwide. Volvo Cars head office, product development, marketing and administration functions are mainly located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Cars head office for China is located in Shanghai. The company’s main car production plants are located in Gothenburg (Sweden), Ghent (Belgium), Chengdu and Daqing (China), while engines are manufactured in Skövde (Sweden) and Zhangjiakou (China) and body components in Olofström (Sweden).