“A New Order Is Coming, Brands Will Perish,” Volvo’s CEO

For years, many European car manufacturers have been concerned about the direction the transition to electric vehicles is taking and the increasing competition from China. Now and then, cries for help are heard from the industry for these two reasons. Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson is now weighing in. According to him, a new order is on the horizon. A new era, with new top names.

The industry is going electric; there’s no stopping it. It may take a little longer in some regions, but the course is set. New dominant players are emerging, like Ford, GM, Toyota, and Volkswagen were in the old world. In the new world, there are two or three very strong Chinese brands. They make it harder for the old brands, and that will trigger restructuring. Some companies will adapt and survive; others won’t,” Automotive News reports.

Naturally, Samuelsson expects “his” Volvo to be among the survivors. However, he does see challenges for the Swedish carmaker: “One challenging area, but one I’m optimistic about, is realizing a global architecture for future cars: fully electric cars and electric cars with backup engines. This needs to happen within a single global architecture, with a better cost position. At the same time, regional models must be possible. That’s something very few, if any, of our competitors have achieved, but I think we can do it together with Geely.”

• Also See: Volvo V90 Has Been Discontinued As Production Ends Next Month