In order to attain the objective of selling 8,00,000 units a year by 2020, the Sweden-based car maker Volvo has revealed its plans to add more than 10,000 employees to its work force. Volvo Chief Executive Officer, Stefan Jacoby has revealed the company's plans to increase its employee headcount to around 33,000 to 35,000.
Currently, Volvo AB has employed around 24,000 people worldwide. Out of the 24,000 employees, nearly 16,000 are based in Sweden, 5,000 are in Belgium, 1,000 Volvo employees are in China and 2,000 are in other automobile markets.
The automobile giant has also disclosed that the major focus will be on China. Volvo is targeting to reach annual sales of 2,00,000 by 2020 in the China's automobile market, where the current year expected sales is around 48,000 to 49,000 units.
According to Jacoby, “Volvo will open a China factory in Chengdu in 2013 with a capacity of 150,000 units and about 3,000 employees. Volvo hopes the Chinese government will approve a second plant in China early next year.”
“Volvo has not suffered a sales decline because of falling economic confidence. There is no sign of a slowdown. Our order books are filled up until spring 2012,” Jacoby added.
The global sales figures for Volvo cars is expected to be between 4,30,000 and 4,40,000 units for 2011, according to Jacoby, as compared to the last year when the company sold 3,74,000 vehicles worldwide.
Thus, Volvo has geared up to make necessary amendments in order to reach its sales goals by 2020 and enter the league of big names in the car industry.
