Volvo Boss: Made in China Volvos Will Be Exported to the U.S. "Fairly Quickly,"

by TTAC Staff

Updated: February 18th, 2014 Published: January 17th, 2014

volvo boss made in china volvos will be exported to the u s fairly quickly

Hakan Samuelsson, CEO of Volvo Car Corp. told the Automotive News World Congress that Chinese built Volvos will be exported “fairly quickly” to the U.S. market. Samuelsson wouldn’t say exactly when but he did say that because of Volvo’s Chinese ownership the company is in a unique position to use China as an export base. Zhejiang Geely Holding Group purchased Volvo from Ford Motor Co. in 2010.

“It will happen fairly quickly in the Volvo group, but it has to be a process that you discuss with your dealers and sales group,” Samuelsson told Automotive News. “We are the only ones who can think of using the factories for export, which we will be doing.”

Pointing to smartphones as an example of sophisticated consumer products that come from Chinese factories, Samuelsson said he doesn’t expect consumers to react negatively to the idea of a Volvo produced in China.

#ChineseImports #Geely #HakanSamuelsson #Volvo

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Buckshot on Jan 17, 2014

I don´t think that a Volvo "made in china" will be any different than other Volvos. Quality is average either way. It is certainly better than some thing "made in usa".

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Spike_in_Brisbane on Jan 17, 2014

I doubt that many of the posters here have been to China and been driven around in a locally built Buick. They are fine cars and I bet they would sell like sushi in the U.S. If GM were even more stupid than they are. The detractors probably think that their Honda was built in Japan or their BMW was built in Germany, both of which are unlikely. And for the player suggesting that shipping costs will be a killer, check out your atlas for the whereabouts of Seoul or Rayong.

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- PenguinBoy on Jan 17, 2014
  
  I am well aware of the location of Seoul, even without an Atlas. The *only* advantage I can see of a Chinese made car is price. The "cost to market" region for making North American market cars is Mexico - so a Chinese made car needs to beat a Mexican made car on price, while remaining competitive on quality. Thanks to rapid wage inflation in China, labour costs there are now roughly the same as in Mexico. Here's one recent source that suggests they're even a bit higher in China now: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/04/economy-mexico-wages-idUSL2N0CR1TY20130404 Shipping costs to the USA will be higher from China then Mexico, both in the cost of shipping itself, and in the amount of inventory that's tied up for a longer amount of time while shipping. So I can't see how a car sold in the US or Canada would be cheaper to build in China than a similar car built in Mexico. And I can't see many people in North America paying extra for a "made in China" label.
  
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- 28-Cars-Later on Jan 17, 2014
  
  @PenguinBoy Trouble is the consumer doesn't always get the cost savings passed onto them from the mfg. Dodge claims pricing of a 2014 Ram 1500 starts at 23,600. Ford F150 starts at 24,445. Labor is something like 80% cheaper in Mexico and yet there is only an $845 starting savings in RAM over the F150. http://www.ramtrucks.com/en/2013/ram_1500/#bighorn/maximum_steel_metal_clear_coat/mono http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/models/
  
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Ryoku75 on Jan 17, 2014

My opinion of Chinese products come from a bit of a silly source, desk lamps. I've collected several older models that use small low wattage bulbs (think reverse lights on a car). I have the following: 1960's Tensor lamp, made in America, still works like a dream but gets warm over time. 1970's European made "Eyeball" Tensor, works like a dream, I used it daily for some time. Late 1970's Hong Kong Tensor knock-off, works fine but I had to take it apart to tighten a few components, luckily the exposed bulky screws made this a cinch. I use it daily. If Volvo found a way to make its cars easily serviced I wouldn't mind if they're made in China, so long as they're priced reasonably and, like the 240, can be fixed easily. If they get this down they'll made good fleet cars too.

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- 28-Cars-Later on Jan 17, 2014
  
  Interesting hobby. I used to collect car emblems and grilles.
  
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- Ryoku75 on Jan 17, 2014
  
  @28-Cars-Later Its a bit unusual, but I got into it admiring how well old desk lamps hold up over the years compared to other appliances, the only one I had that "broke" was a newer one with a LED bulb, oh yea it switched on, but it smoked and flickered, thankfully I payed only a buck for it. For some reason they command good money on ebay too, but I'd rather hold on to a few of them. I collect\patch up cheap vintage appliances as a side hobby, to me its an interesting way of looking back into bygone culture and lifestyles, all the while appreciating the present. If I had space I'd fill my wall with various car grilles and lights, but for now I just have car keys from interesting or high mileage scrap yard cars, naturally several are Volvo keys.
  
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- 28-Cars-Later on Jan 17, 2014
  
  @Ryoku75 I recommend getting at least the trunk lock unit in the future if you're collecting keys. Back in the 90s I knew several people who wanted their trunk key to be different than the key that opened the doors. As cars age locks seize and keys get lost, I could see a classic or antique enthusiast being interested in a working trunk lock (or even set of locks for the car).
  
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- Ryoku75 on Jan 17, 2014
  
  @28-Cars-Later Good idea, I'll collect a few my next junkyard visit.
  
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Threeer on Jan 18, 2014

As evidenced in the comments here, most Americans won't give three figs about sending more money to China and won't even be vageuely aware that their Volvo is made in China. I guess $300 billion in negative trade with them alone last year makes not a whiff of difference. It aggrevates me that Americans have more or less given up on their own country when it comes to maintaining an industrial/manufacturing base, but I guess people have the freedom to make their own choices. NIMD...

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- Barksdale on Jan 18, 2014
  
  I think the made-in-the-USA Tesla shows that some great engineering and manufacturing can happen in the US. Problem is the cost, so wouldn't be surprised to see the manufacturing move elsewhere if/when Tesla starts to scale (or maybe Ford or GM will buy them before that happens, which opens up its own can of worms...) I agree the trade imbalance is insane. Maybe in the future (but I don't mean the near future) 3D printing will create a whole new manufacturing dynamic. Buy a car plan designed in Italy and have it assembled in the U.S. at a 3D printing center.
  
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- Tekdemon on Jan 19, 2014
  
  Volvox were never made in the us to begin with so it's rather ridiculous to bring up trade imbalances. And anyways, a trade deficit is not neccessarily bad for an economy, it just makes for an easy scapegoat for populist nonsense. There is zero difference to the US economy whether the v60 gets shipped here from Sweden or Guangzhou and I for one look forward to Chinese built Volvo cars because then they might actually be able to compete. As it is they don't sell and a lot of that is the insane pricing.
  
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- Threeer on Jan 19, 2014
  
  @tekdemon As I said...we all have the freedom to choose where we send our money to. While I understand that a completely 100% free from Chinese product economy is impossible, I can still minimize the impact and would much rather the money go to employing somebody from Birmingham or Boston before Beijing. Trade is relevant. Folks are free to buy what they want, even if it means losing more of our own independence (not that I'd expect hundreds of thousands of Chinese-made Volvos to suddenly be sold, mind you).
  
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