A few days ago, China Geely Holding Group announced that it has appointed a new chairman for its core European investment company, replacing Geely founder Li Shufu.
Geely said in a statement that Danish business veteran Lone Fonss Schroder will succeed Li Shufu as chairman of the board of directors of Geely Sweden Holding, which oversees Geely Group’s European business. However, the statement did not elaborate on the reasons for the personnel adjustments.
With the new appointment taking effect, Schroder will step down from Volvo Cars’ board of directors and join the nominating committee responsible for board appointments, becoming one of Geely Sweden’s representatives on Volvo Cars’ nominating committee.
Image source: Geely Automobile
Schroder joined Volvo Cars’ board of directors in 2010 and served as vice chairman of the board in 2018, in addition to serving as chairman of the audit committee. During her tenure on the Board of Directors of Volvo Cars, she played a key role in various roles on the Board.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Schroder for his outstanding dedication and valuable contributions to the Board of Volvo Cars over the past 15 years,” said Li Shufu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Volvo Cars. ”
Last year, Li Shufu urged Geely to strengthen its strategic focus to enhance synergies and eliminate internal competition. So far, relevant initiatives include merging teams, restructuring brands such as Zeekr, Geely Auto and Lynk & Co, as well as adjusting the executives and board members of Swedish brands Volvo Cars and Polestar Cars.
Li Shufu is currently the majority shareholder of Polestar Automobile through Geely Sweden Holdings and personal shareholding, and he is also the largest shareholder of Geely and the chairman of Volvo Cars.
Geely is the owner of car brands such as Volvo Cars and Lotus. In March, during a tumultuous period of tariff pressure and market uncertainty for Volvo Cars, former CEO Hakan Samuelsson was unexpectedly reappointed as head of the company.
