The designers would work at a research center being set up in Shanghai's Jiading district, said Volvo design chief Peter Horbury. Volvo may hire the designers next year, he added.

Volvo has no plan to release China-specific models and will focus on features for Chinese customers, Horbury said.

"If the Chinese or the Americans want more chrome on the grille, why would we say no to that just because we don't have that in Sweden?" Horbury said in an interview at Volvo headquarters in Gothenburg.

Horbury returned to Volvo last year from Ford. He had been Volvo's design chief between 1991 and 2002, during which time he gave a curvaceous shape to the previously boxy models.

In August, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. completed the $1.8 billion purchase of Volvo from Ford Motor Co.

China is key to Volvo CEO Stefan Jacoby's goal of doubling sales to 800,000 cars in a decade. With Geely's help, Volvo plans to build two Chinese assembly plants and expand a third.

Volvo's rivals also are establishing Chinese design studios. In 2008, Mercedes Benz opened a small studio in China, and it expects to have 30 designers based there by the end of 2011.