What, his Chinese is not good enough for a permanent position?
Volvo Cars of North America today named Tony Nicolosi acting president and CEO. Nicolosi, 53, who currently serves as President and CEO of Volvo Car Financial Services U.S., replaces John Maloney, who left Volvo. Nicolosi will continue in his role with VCFS in addition to his new duties for VCNA. A permanent successor at Volvo Car North America president and CEO will announced later, according to the struggling Chinese-owned automaker.
VCNA reported U.S. sales of 4,188 units, a -15.9% decrease versus September 2012 in an overall market that was off -4%. Year-to-date sales are down -7% during the first nine months of 2012 compared to a market that grew by 8%.
“Tony has been with Volvo for 26 years, has a keen insight into the business operations and is a strong and enthused leader,” said Alain Visser, Senior Vice President Marketing, Sales and Customer Service, Volvo Car Group. “As our largest market globally, VCNA’s momentum and success in the U.S. is vital to a larger transformation taking place at Volvo.”
Volvo claims that Maloney was asked to consider a senior role in Europe, which he declined for family reasons. “We would like to thank John for his tremendous contributions over the last 14 years with the company,” said Visser.
VCNA also announced that Greg Swetoha, Executive Vice President of sales operations, has also “elected” to leave Volvo. The three regional vice presidents will now report directly to Nicolosi.
