A 74-year-old man returning to the scene of his redemption for a final shot at glory sounds like a Hollywood pitch. It became reality in corporate Sweden this week as Håkan Samuelsson took over at Volvo Cars.
Named as chief executive on Sunday, Samuelsson started two days later with a three-point plan to revive the fortunes of one of Europe’s biggest carmakers.
Samuelsson’s second act at a company that he revitalised between 2012 and 2022 will involve complementing its electric strategy with a renewed focus on more popular plug-in hybrids, improving its gross margin and cutting costs, according to people familiar with his plans.
The former truck executive wants Gothenburg-based Volvo to make better use of its Chinese parent company, Geely, and capitalise on its relationships with cheaper parts suppliers.
A renewed focus on investor relations is also likely after Volvo’s shares fell by two-thirds under former chief Jim Rowan, who has ended up as both successor and predecessor to Samuelsson, and who warned in February that the carmaker faced “more turbulence” in 2025.
Volvo turned to Samuelsson’s “steady hand” to help it navigate cut-throat competition and geopolitical tensions sparked by US President Donald Trump’s trade policies and hostility towards China.
But returning to an old job is never straightforward, even for a seasoned operator such as Samuelsson, who is returning to a role that revived his own reputation after he quit as boss of German truckmaker MAN under a cloud because of a bribery scandal.
“You can imagine,” said a former colleague, “he’s got quite a lot to lose. But also quite a lot to gain.”
The blond-haired, softly-spoken Swede started his career in 1977 at Scania, a truckmaker based outside Stockholm and renowned for its high profitability and technical prowess.
With his path to the top job blocked, Samuelsson moved to Germany and joined rival MAN in 2000 — becoming chief executive in 2005 — where colleagues were impressed by his enthusiasm and emphasis on having fun.
But they were less happy when a successful restructuring also led to the sale of the truckmaker’s vineyard, which produced a decent white wine, and was seen as an important marketing tool. “That was a big mistake,” said a former colleague. Another added that Samuelsson himself ended up regretting the move.
For many, however, his stint at MAN was defined by two unfortunate events. One was an unsuccessful takeover bid for Scania that pitted him against his former boss Leif Östling.
“It was a personal battle, some said it was a vendetta,” recalled a former MAN manager.
Östling and Samuelsson met during the 2006 World Cup final in Berlin — an awkward meeting that took place during a game made infamous by France’s captain Zinedine Zidane’s headbutt on Italy’s Marco Materazzi. MAN’s bid failed and both companies were eventually taken over by Volkswagen.
Worse was to come when a bribery scandal forced Samuelsson to quit in 2009. Four years later, he agreed to pay €500,000 to charity and €1.25mn to MAN to end a probe by prosecutors without admitting guilt.
There was therefore some surprise when Geely turned to him, a truck manager rather than a car guy, in 2012 to turn around Volvo, which was in very poor shape after two decades of ownership by Ford Motor.
Samuelsson cut costs dramatically, sharpened Volvo’s Scandinavian brand profile, and to the surprise of many led it back to the stock market in 2021.
“In the view of Swedish industry, he was a loser when he went to Volvo. And Volvo itself was lost. It was a car only for teachers. He brought the shine back to a Swedish jewel,” said a former German acquaintance.
A former Volvo colleague added: “His first stint at Volvo was redemption after the scandal. His reputation was under a cloud. He went from slightly compromised to be regarded as one of the great turnaround specialists in recent Swedish history.”
Some question why he would want to put that reputation at risk by coming back for a short stint as chief executive.
He has told friends he has the energy for two more years as an executive, and that as a smaller player competing against larger, better-funded rivals such as BMW and Mercedes, Volvo has to get it right or disappear.
Trump’s tariffs have put Volvo with its Chinese ownership and factories across three continents in a bind. “Volvo needs to react faster,” one former colleague reported him as saying.
Samuelsson told Volvo’s annual meeting on Thursday that the group needed to rapidly increase production in the US to avoid the worst effects of tariffs. “We need to learn from the Chinese how to localise,” he added.
Shareholders are still wary. A difficult IPO — with questions about Geely and its owner and Volvo’s chair Eric Li — left the Scandinavian carmaker with almost no international shareholders, and largely backed by local funds.
“The last three years have been a humiliation for all these institutions. They’ve had enough. The cars weren’t looking great, Chinese rivals had equal range, better technology, and half the price,” said one Swedish executive.
The geopolitical backdrop has also got tougher. Chinese ownership was always viewed sceptically — despite Geely’s success where Ford had failed — and that is even more so in Sweden now. Pressure on European carmakers is likely to rise further as they are squeezed in both China and the US.
Former colleagues said Samuelsson was an energetic and tough leader who had a genuine interest in making things better, and was prepared to take good ideas from colleagues no matter how junior.
“He was always very ambitious, always surviving on not much sleep,” said a former German colleague. Turning around Volvo a second time is likely to require plenty more sleepless nights.
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