Volvo president visit Taiwan with ambitious sales goal

Taipei, June 18, 2004 (CENS)--Hans-Olov Olsson, president and CEO of Volvo Car Corp. of Sweden, recently visited Taiwan for the first time, announcing an ambitious goal of making Volvo the No. 3 imported car brand on the island in a short period of time.

Taiwan is Volvo Car's third-largest market in Asia, trailing Japan and mainland China. Olsson claimed that his company would strive to boost its annual car sales in Taiwan to 5,000 units as soon as possible to rank among the top three imported car brands.

Olsson expressed satisfaction with his company's car sales performance in Taiwan in the past two years. For further upgrading its local sales, Volvo Car set up a wholly owned subsidiary, Volvo Car Taiwan (VCT), in 2002.

As VCT's product line is getting comprehensive and its local distribution channels are established well, the firm sold 1,600 Volvo cars, up 32% from a year earlier.

In the first few months of this year, according to VCT, the hot sales of the Volvo XC90 luxury sport utility vehicle (LSUV) have made it replace Audi as the No. 3 imported car brand in Taiwan.

VCT estimated that its annual car sales volume should smoothly surpass the goal of 2,000 units set early this year, and Olsson expected Volvo's annual sales volume in Taiwan to reach 5,000 units in next three to five years.