Volvo Cars Names Škoda Chief Klaus Zellmer as Next CEO

Volvo Cars has appointed Klaus Zellmer, currently chairman and chief executive of Škoda Auto, as its next president and chief executive, the Geely-owned Swedish carmaker said on Saturday. Zellmer will take over no later than October 1 2027, succeeding Håkan Samuelsson, who returned to the role in April 2025 on what the board had described as a stabilisation mandate.

The announcement, made as a regulatory filing under EU market-disclosure rules, marks Volvo's fourth chief executive change in roughly five years, following Samuelsson's original 2012-2022 tenure, Jim Rowan's brief spell, and Samuelsson's second stint. Eric Li, chairman of Volvo Cars, said Zellmer "combines deep automotive expertise with broad international leadership experience and a strong record of guiding organisations through transformation," adding that his exposure to both premium and high-volume brands made him "an excellent fit." Zellmer, 59, called the move an opportunity to join Volvo "at such an important moment in the company's development."

Zellmer's appointment comes weeks after Volvo unveiled a strategy to launch 13 new models by 2030 and lift its operating margin from 3.5 per cent last year towards 8 per cent, partly by sharing more parts and platforms with parent Geely. He arrives with two decades of experience at Porsche, including as head of its North American operations, and more recently steered Škoda through its strongest global run: the Czech brand delivered over a million vehicles in 2025, becoming the third best-selling marque in Europe.

His India record is where the appointment carries the most local relevance. Under Zellmer, Škoda's India deliveries nearly doubled to 70,600 units in 2025, making the country its fourth-largest market worldwide, built on the locally assembled Kylaq. He has repeatedly called India's growth potential over the next decade among the largest of any car market globally.

Volvo's own India business tells a different story. The brand sold around 1,647 units in the year to March 2026, making it the smallest of the established luxury players, well behind Mercedes-Benz's roughly 19,300 units and BMW's 17,300. Volvo has assembled cars, including the electric XC40 Recharge, at its Hoskote plant near Bengaluru since 2017, and currently sells the EX30 and EC40 electric models locally, with the larger EX90 and ES90 set to follow. Even in electric vehicles, where Volvo has traditionally ranked third, its share has slipped as BMW expanded and Tesla entered the segment.

Whether Zellmer's experience localising and scaling a mass-market brand in India translates into sharper ambition for Volvo's premium business remains an open question.