Arp out, Odell in as Ford commits to Volvo
Author: Robin Brown
Published: 03 September 2008
Volvo's Fredrik Arp will make way for Stephen Odell as Ford wields the knife in an attempt to reverse recent decline at the Swedish car-maker.
The move will be effective from October and seems to reassert Ford's commitment to Volvo, which had seemed in doubt following a succession of media reports that the Blue Oval company was considering selling off the Swedish manufacturer.
Arp - CEO at Volvo since 2005 - will be replaced by England-born Stephen Odell, 53, who will move from his role as Ford of Europe chief operating officer. Odell has worked for Ford since 1980.
Ford of Europe has seen healthy sales and profits over the decade and boasts strong sellers such as the Ka, Fiesta, Focus, Mondeo, C-MAX, Galaxy and new Kuga in most volume segments.
Odell will be given a brief to reduce costs, improve sales and concentrate on Volvo's key attributes such as safety, design and environmental sustainability. Volvo has recently scaled back plans to introduce more models based on the C30 hatch - seen as a departure from Volvo's brand.
Ford boss Alan Mulally praised Arp's contribution in steering Volvo through difficult times, but said the time was right to make a change. Volvo lost $271m in the first six months of 2008, with heavy losses in the US - an important market for the executive brand.
See Also:
Click here for more Volvo stories
Ford has announced the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to India's Tata Motors, confirming one of the worst-kept secrets in automotive history.
advertisement
Jaguar has introduced the new performance-orientated diesel XF S – which also returns an impressive 42mpg. | 05/01/2009
The Audi R8 V10 will offer all-LED headlamps as standard in 2009, paving the way for the introduction of LED headlamps on more Audi models. | 05/01/2009
Rolls-Royce has unveiled a special-edition Phantom as part of its Bespoke Collection in the shape of the Phantom Sapphire. | 05/01/2009
Audi has added more Coupe and Roadster TT variants, with the addition of the new S line specification and more quattro models, available from 1 January. | 05/01/2009
Audi will launch Black editions of its A3 in three-door, five-door and cabriolet guises. | 05/01/2009
|05/01/2009
Rolls-Royce has unveiled a special-edition Phantom as part of its Bespoke Collection in the shape of the Phantom Sapphire.
|05/01/2009
The Audi R8 V10 will offer all-LED headlamps as standard in 2009, paving the way for the introduction of LED headlamps on more Audi models.
|05/01/2009
Audi will launch Black editions of its A3 in three-door, five-door and cabriolet guises.
|05/01/2009
Audi has added more Coupe and Roadster TT variants, with the addition of the new S line specification and more quattro models, available from 1 January.
|05/01/2009
The Association of British Insurers have revealed that an increasing amount of people are jeopardising their insurance cover by lying or failing to disclose information.
|01/10/2008
Euro Car Parts has acquired Pinco 1555 Ltd, including all 53 of LSUK's 53 branches, together with subsidiaries M I Diesel Products, Protech Automotive (UK) and Yeovil Rewind.
|20/11/2007
Around 400 people a day risk damaging their car by misfuelling, and filling up with gas is a mistake that could cost thousands. So what do you do if you´ve filled up your diesel car with unleaded petrol?
|06/12/2007
Fuel protests similar to those that brought the UK to a halt in 2000 are being planned by a breakaway group of disaffected hauliers, according to press reports.
|07/10/2008
Euro Car Parts has put out a statement on the closure of LSUK, stating that a closure of the business was unavoidable due to a 'lack of support'.
|06/10/2008
LSUK, thought to have been rescused by Euro Car Parts, has been unexpectedly closed by the new owners with the loss of over 600 jobs.
Search Motortorque:
No readers comments
Be the first to write a comment on this article