Volvo to set up China headquarters in Shanghai
Volvo Car Corp. says it plans to establish its China headquarters and a technology center in Shanghai.
Volvo aims to boost annual sales in China to 200,000 cars by 2015, up from 30,000 last year. The company hopes to exploit China's rapidly expanding market for luxury cars.
Volvo expects China to become its biggest market as early as next year and its "second home market" after Sweden, said Freeman Shen, the brand's China head, on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show earlier this month.
Last year, Volvo sold 60,000 units in Sweden, roughly double its sales in China.
Volvo plans to launch local production in China to reach its 2015 sales goal.
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group bought Volvo Cars from Ford Motor Co. for $1.7 billion (11.3 billion yuan) last year in China's biggest acquisition of a foreign carmaker.
