Volvo picks chief to fill Olsson’s shoes

By

Volvo has appointed Fredrik Arp as group chief executive. Arp replaces Hans-Olov Olsson, who becomes group chairman.

Arp, who is currently chief executive of Swedish engineering company Trelleborg, will join Volvo in October. He will also take over the role of president from Olsson, who is nearing retirement after 39 years at Volvo.

Volvo is part of Ford’s luxury unit, Premier Automotive Group (PAG). Executive vice-president of PAG and Ford of Europe Mark Fields says: “Volvo has a strong business and is a great brand. Fredrik Arp’s challenge is to lead the further growth of the Volvo business.”

Volvo has recently broken away from traditional car advertising: at the end of last year, it ran an unconventional documentary-style commercial featuring conversations between two people who had overcome adversity. Its European advertising account is held by Amsterdam-based MVBMS Fuel Europe.

Euro RSCG/Fuel Europe set up a London headquarters earlier this year after winning Jaguar’s $100m (£55m) global advertising account (MW March 24).

Jaguar was said to be impressed with the network’s work and the decision to set up a London office sidestepped a conflict with Euro RSCG’s Peugeot and Citroën accounts.

Recommended

The market says it’s worth $81bn, but can Google stay on top?

Marketing Week

When two computer science students dropped out of university in California in 1995 to pursue their dream of creating an internet search engine, few people would have imagined that ten years later they would be running the world’s most valuable media company, worth more than $81bn (£44bn). But Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the co-founders […]

When mud sticks, make sure you’re covered

Marketing Week

Polly Devaney (MW May 26) notes the effects of fame and misfortune on brands that are endorsed by celebrities. Our – perhaps prurient – interest in celebrities makes them ideal brand heroes, especially for hard-to-reach markets, but our interest in them also makes them targets for people with a story to sell. Many brands continue […]

Latest from Marketing Week