Klaus Zellmer will take over Volvo by October 1, 2027. The brand is backing the former Skoda boss.
Volvo Cars will appoint a new president by no later than October 1, 2027. Håkkan Samuelsson will be replaced by Klaus Zellmer, the current CEO of Skoda, meaning a manager brought straight from the Volkswagen Group.
This will be the fourth change in Volvo’s president position in about five years. Stability? Not yet, but the choice of successor seems much less arbitrary than before.
Zellmer is there to deliver margins, not presentations
Klaus Zellmer has been in the automotive industry for over 30 years, spending two decades at the Volkswagen Group. He has led Skoda since 2022, and previously, from 2015 to 2020, he managed Porsche’s North American division.
Under his leadership, Porsche’s sales in the U.S. rose from 51,756 vehicles in 2015 to 61,568 units in 2019. At Skoda, the financial results are even more impressive: the brand achieved an operating margin of 8.5% in the first half of 2026.
Volvo aims to reach a similar level by 2030. However, it has a long way to go, as the company’s operating margin was 3.5% in 2025. Production in Sweden also costs significantly more than in the Czech Republic, where Skoda achieved large-scale production. Thus, Zellmer is not taking over a ready-made luxury business but rather a premium brand with high costs and ambitious product plans.
Eric Li, chairman of Volvo Cars’ board, said, “Klaus Zellmer combines deep expertise in the automotive industry with extensive international leadership experience, as well as proven success in guiding organizations through transformation and changing market conditions.”
13 models by 2030, but regionally divided
Volvo has planned 13 launches by the end of 2030. Six models will go to Europe and the U.S., while another seven will be developed specifically for China. The company aims to develop cars regionally and produce them as close to their target markets as possible.
This represents a shift away from the idea of one global Volvo for everyone. It matters for Europe because the brand still needs to maintain its position in the premium segment, where it faces competition from BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Tesla, and increasingly Chinese manufacturers.
Zellmer is familiar with the electric part of this picture. According to Dataforce, the Skoda Elroq was the second-best-selling electric car in Europe in 2025, behind the Tesla Model Y. The larger Enyaq came in fifth place. So Skoda sells EVs not thanks to marketing tactics, but because of vehicles that actually end up on the roads.
Samuelsson returned to Volvo in 2025 after Jim Rowan left. The Scottish technology manager took over from Samuelsson in 2022, but investments in a new technological platform began to get out of control financially. From the start, it was clear that Samuelsson’s return would last two years and serve to find a permanent successor.
Volvo is buying time until October 2027, but Zellmer will be held accountable for margins and launches, not how well the 2030 plan looks. Can this manager from Skoda bring Czech cost discipline to the Swedish premium brand?
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