Volvo Cars brings back former Polestar CEO as design chief

By Marie Mannes

STOCKHOLM, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Volvo Cars VOLCARb.ST has appointed former Polestar PSNY.O CEO Thomas Ingenlath to head its design team as the Swedish automaker seeks to revive declining sales.

Ingenlath reprises the role he held before taking the Polestar job in 2017, with his return adding to a series of leadership and strategic changes since Hakan Samuelsson was brought back as chief executive last April to steer an overhaul of a group that suffered a 7% drop in car sales last year.

Samuelsson has reshaped the Volvo Cars management team, replacing its finance chief and launching a turnaround programme aimed at reviving a record-low share price that has risen by 63% since his return.

Both Polestar and Volvo Cars are controlled by China's Geely Holding GEELY.UL. But unlike Polestar, which was a startup, the challenge at Volvo Cars is to adapt to the digital age while harnessing brand heritage dating back to 1927, Ingenlath said.

"It would be so wrong to throw it all away," Ingenlath told Reuters. "You have to find your way ... in this long history and the values, and how you transfer that into the modern age."

Volvo Cars' previous head of design left in July, with Nick Groenenthal serving as acting chief design officer since then.

Ingenlath led Polestar until 2024, when he was replaced by Michael Lohscheller as the brand struggled to contend with intensifying competition and a broader slowdown in global demand for electric cars.

Volvo Cars is also seeking closer ties with parent Geely and its other car brands in an effort to improve profitability as it prepares to roll out new models including the EX60 electric SUV, which is due to be launched on January 21.

More recently, Ingenlath has served as a senior design adviser to Geely Group, which includes the Zeekr, Lynk & Co and Lotus brands among others.