Volvo CEO expects record performance to continue despite trade tensions, EV push

Volvo is on track to have its fifth consecutive year of record vehicle sales in 2018, and CEO Hakan Samuelsson expects the success to continue in 2019. The Swedish automaker, however, faces some tough challenges after a trade dispute between the U.S. and China hammered its third-quarter financial results and forced it to adjust exports between its two largest sales markets. Samuelsson is also aggressively driving Volvo into the autonomous era by setting a goal that a third of the automaker’s sales come from self-driving vehicles by 2025. Samuelsson shared his thoughts in multiple interviews with Automotive News Europe.