Volvo executive to leave after automaker walks back EV plan

STOCKHOLM: Volvo Car AB is shaking up its management team, with chief commercial officer and deputy chief executive officer Bjorn Annwall leaving the company.

Annwall, who has been with the Swedish carmaker for nine years, will stay on to support the transition, the company said Wednesday.

The deputy CEO role will be scrapped amid a rejig of the management structure.

"In a rapidly changing world, we need to ensure our organisation is equipped to navigate a more challenging market,” Volvo’s CEO Jim Rowan said in the statement.

The announcement comes after Volvo scaled back its profit outlook last month, citing an uncertain global economy and increased tariffs on electric cars built in China, where it makes some models.

The carmaker, controlled by China’s Geely, has also joined rivals in walking back its EV ambitions, declaring that it no longer plans to sell only fully electric cars by the end of the decade.

Instead, the company will keep building hybrid models amid weak demand from consumers for pricier battery-powered cars.

The automaker’s struggles have been reflected in the share price, which has fallen 40% in the last 12 months.

Annwall won’t have a direct replacement. Erik Severinson will add commercial strategy to his role as chief product and strategy officer, Arek Nowinski will become president of international markets and Gretchen Saegh-Fleming will lead customer experience and marketing.

Oscar Bertilsson Olsborg will become head of global commercial operations, the company added Wednesday.

Rowan said Annwall had played a "pivotal part” in the company’s stock market listing, shift into electrification and expansion into new markets.