Finn Johnsson, chairman of Volvo since 2004, said he was stepping down early
because of other commitments, clearing the way for Mr Schweitzer, who is
also chairman of AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical group, to take charge.
Analysts linked the move to mounting discontent among shareholders over the
Swedish truckmaker’s performance but Mr Johnsson said that it was his
decision to resign.
37 salesdrop
Volvo’s sales were down 37 per cent in November from a year earlier, the
latest in a series of steep monthly declines as demand has been hit by the
global economic downturn and tight credit markets.
Hampus Engellau, analyst at Handelsbanken, said Volvo had been hit harder than
most rivals, fuelling unrest among investors.
“It seems they have some problems in cutting costs and reducing production
fast enough,” he said.
Mr Schweitzer, who was born in Switzerland, stepped down as Renault chairman
last year after 17 years as head of the French carmaker, 13 of them as chief
executive.
He oversaw the sale of Renault Trucks to Volvo in 2001 in a deal that resulted
in the French carmaker receiving a 20 per cent stake in Volvo and Mr
Schweitzer taking a seat on the board.
Meanwhile, there has been persistent speculation that Renault could be looking
to sell its Volvo shares to raise capital.
But analysts said that it was not clear that the change in chairmanship made a
Renault exit from Volvo more or less likely.
Volvo recorded a net loss of SKr2.92bn ($413m) in the three months to last
September – its fourth consecutive quarterly deficit.
The group, which also makes buses and construction equipment, forecast that
European truck sales would halve in 2009, while the North American market
was predicted to contract by 30-40 per cent over the full year.
However, Volvo said in October that the worst was past and reported signs that
“gradual recovery” was under way.
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