Volvo’s new CEO Stefan Jacoby has said it is “too early” for the firm to be building a rival to compete with the BMW 7-series and Mercedes S-class.
His comments follow those made by Volvo parent firm Geely’s boss, Li Shufu, when the firm acquired Volvo from Ford earlier in the year. He said he wanted to see the Swedish car maker make more “high-level cars that compete with the Mercedes S-class and BMW 7-series”.
But Jacoby said such a car “is a step too early” and would only be considered after “we have reached our goal of 800,000 sales”.
Read more on Volvo's plans for a 7-series rival
Shufu reckons Volvo has the technology and research capabilities to compete at the top end of the market as well as demand higher retail prices. Shufu has also made it clear that a push into the booming Chinese car market would demand luxury that Chinese customers could “see through their eyes and touch with their hands”.
Geely paid just over £1bn to buy the loss-making company and wants to more than double sales from last year’s 335,000 units. Volvo made losses of around £400m last year, but says that a relatively modest increase in sales should tip it back into profit.
