Volvo shakes up management team with 5 new additions in 3 months

Volvo's plan to become an electric-only brand by 2030 is changing the makeup of the company.

While it eliminates more than 1,000 so-called white collar jobs around the world, it also plans to add a slew of new people with expertise in areas that are new to the company.

"We need to open some white space to bring in the skills that we need for that future," CEO Jim Rowan told Automotive News Europe prior to announcing the company's second-quarter results. "That is obviously software, analytics, machine learning, A.I., electrification, power electronics. These are all new. In addition, we need experts in battery technology, battery chemistry, inverters and silicon carbide."

The breadth of the personnel shuffle has also been evident at the upper level of the company, where five changes to the Group Management Team have taken place in less than three months, increasing the group's size to 15.

The so-called GMT is a tier below Volvo's seven-person Executive Management Team, which is led by Rowan.

The changes started June 30 with the hiring of Gretchen Saegh-Fleming, a "digital-first business leader" who as the new head of global marketing is tasked with helping Volvo reach its goal of generating half of its global vehicle sales online by 2025.

The former chief marketing officer at cosmetics giant L'Oreal inherits marketing responsibilities previously handled by Chief Commercial Officer and Deputy CEO Bjorn Annwall.

This week Volvo announced that Francesca Gamboni, who has more than a decade of combined automotive supply chain management experience with Stellantis and Renault, will join the company starting Oct. 16. As head of procurement and supply chain, Gamboni will be responsible for strengthening Volvo's "lean, sustainable and regionalized supply chain," the company said.

Gamboni, who will report to Volvo Chief Operating Officer and Deputy CEO Javier Varela, replaces Kerstin Enochsson, who last month joined Swedish bearing and seals supplier SKF as president of automotive.

"Francesca's experience blends a deep understanding of automotive and supply chain with the perspective of having worked across multiple industries,” Varela said in a statement. Gamboni has also worked at Robert Bosch, L'Oreal and mining giant Alcan, which is now Rio Tinto. He added that she is will help Volvo sharpen its focus on digitalization and sustainability.

While Saegh-Fleming and Gamboni take on roles that have existed previously on the GMT, Volvo also promoted three executives to newly created posts on the team.

Elisabeth Barrie is the now head of commercial digital. She joined Volvo in 2022 from Norwegian financial services specialist Vipps, where she was chief product officer.

Alwin Bakkenes is now head of software engineering. He started with Volvo last November. The former vice president of global product lines at automotive supplier Aptiv has experience in automated driving, infotainment, connectivity and software-defined vehicles. He is also a board member as Volvo-owned AI software company Zenseact. This is his second stint at Volvo after having served as director of driver interaction and infotainment from 2005-11.

Helena Bergstrom Pilo is now head of quality. She started with Volvo as a trainee in 1988 and her first job was as a design engineer for seats. Since then she has held leading roles within engineering, program management and procurement. A highlight of her 35 years at Volvo was being responsible for the engineering of the body, closures, exterior, interior and climate systems on the award-winning second-generation XC90 SUV.

Automotive News Europe in 2016 recognized Pilo at one of the 25 Leading Women in the European Automotive Industry.

Barrie, Bakkenes and Pilo started their new roles August 23.
 
Said a spokesperson about the trio of appointments: "These business areas are critical to our success and for reaching our goal of becoming an electric-only automaker by 2030. That is why we have chosen to further tighten the link between these functions and our decision making with these new appointments."