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Volvo Cars has appointed Škoda Auto chief Klaus Zellmer as its next president and CEO, handing the automotive executive responsibility for delivering a new growth strategy built around regionalised products, electrification and closer collaboration with Geely.
Zellmer will assume the role no later than 1 October 2027, with current president and CEO Håkan Samuelsson working with Volvo Cars’ board to manage the transition. Samuelsson returned to lead the company in 2025 after previously serving as chief executive between 2012 and 2022. Volvo Cars chairman Eric Li said Zellmer’s experience across both premium and high-volume automotive brands suited the company as it enters its next stage of development.
Zellmer brings more than 30 years of automotive experience and is currently chairman of the board of management and CEO of Škoda Auto. Before joining Škoda, he served on the Volkswagen Passenger Cars board with responsibility for sales, marketing and after-sales. He previously spent more than two decades at Porsche, including periods as CEO of Porsche Deutschland and Porsche Cars North America.
His record at Škoda gives Volvo a leader arriving from a business with strong recent commercial momentum. Škoda delivered 1.04 million vehicles worldwide in 2025, up 12.7% year on year, and became the third-best-selling car brand in its core European market. Battery-electric deliveries rose to 174,900, while deliveries in India almost doubled to 70,600.
Zellmer will inherit an ambitious product and profitability programme. Three days before announcing his appointment, Volvo Cars unveiled plans for 13 all-new vehicles by the end of 2030, describing the programme as the largest product push in its 99-year history. Seven vehicles are planned for Western markets and six for China, combining fully electric cars with a new generation of hybrids tailored to regional demand.
Volvo says the programme is intended to double its market share and help build a business capable of achieving a long-term EBIT margin above 8%. The strategy places greater emphasis on regionalisation as tariffs, technology rules and differing consumer preferences make a single global product approach more difficult. China-focused vehicles will make greater use of technology and platforms shared with Geely, while Volvo will retain its own technology architecture for much of its Western portfolio.
The scale of that challenge is visible in Volvo’s latest financial performance. The company reported 171,501 retail sales in the second quarter of 2026, down 5.6% year on year. Revenue was SEK77.7 billion and its EBIT margin was 1.1%, leaving a substantial gap between current profitability and the company’s longer-term target.
Zellmer’s appointment also brings a leader with experience managing combustion-engine, hybrid and electric product portfolios rather than treating electrification as a uniform transition across markets. Under his leadership, Škoda expanded electric sales while also growing internationally, particularly in India and other developing markets. That background aligns with Volvo’s decision to tailor technology and powertrain choices more closely to regional customer demand.
The succession therefore links Volvo’s next leadership phase directly to execution of the strategy Samuelsson has put in place. Zellmer will be expected to convert the 13-model programme, deeper Geely cooperation and regional product strategy into stronger sales and margins while maintaining Volvo’s position in the premium market.
The lengthy transition period should also give the board time to preserve continuity while the first stages of the product programme are implemented. By the time Zellmer formally takes control, Volvo will have considerably more evidence on whether its regional strategy, new models and cost measures are moving the company towards its growth and profitability ambitions.
Image credit:Ethan Llamas