Volvo (OTCMKTS:VLVO.F) has been manufacturing cars for nearly a century. Its first car rolled off the assembly line in Sweden in 1927. Today, Volvo sells cars in more than 100 countries.
The Swedish automaker has focused on making gas-powered cars over the last century. However, its future is electric. The company aims to be a fully electric car company by 2030. It plans to eventually phase out any car with an internal combustion engine, including hybrids.
Volvo's electrification strategy marked a new era for the company in more ways than one. Shortly after unveiling its future as an electric carmaker, Volvo completed an initial public offering (IPO). However, while the company is now publicly traded, it's still part of Geely Holding. The large Chinese automaker bought Volvo from Ford (F 0.47%) in 2010 and continues to own a majority stake in the company.
Here's a closer look at the automotive company that now owns Volvo. We'll also examine the company's board of directors and learn how to invest money in Volvo.
Who owns it?
Who is the owner of Volvo?
Volvo Cars spent most of its existence as part of the manufacturing conglomerate AB Volvo. However, the manufacturer of heavy trucks, buses, and construction equipment sold its auto business to Ford in 1999 for about $6.5 billion.
The American automaker owned the brand for over a decade. However, it ran into financial trouble during the 2007-2009 financial crisis. That forced Ford to sell off several auto brands, including selling Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors in 2008 and Volvo to Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (OTCMKTS:GELYF) in 2010. Ford took big losses on those sales (it unloaded Volvo for $1.8 billion).
Founded by Li Shufu, Geely Holding is a Chinese multinational corporation mainly focused on the auto industry. It's one of the world's 10 most valuable auto portfolio brands. The company owns several auto brands, including Lotus, Geely Auto, Lynk & Co, Polestar (PSNY 4.26%), and Volvo. In recent years, it has increasingly focused on electrification.
Geely Holding was the sole owner of Volvo until 2021 when it listed the company on the Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchange. As a result, Volvo Car is now a public subsidiary of the Chinese automaker.
Volvo operates fairly independently. It has a board of directors who drive its strategic vision. For example, the company unveiled plans in 2021 to be a fully electric vehicle brand by 2030. It has since formed a joint venture with Swedish battery developer and manufacturer Northvolt to build battery manufacturing capacity.
Top shareholders
Who are the largest shareholders?
Volvo is a publicly traded subsidiary of Chinese automaker Geely Holding. That company is, by far, its largest shareholder (it held about 78.7% of Volvo's outstanding shares at the end of 2023). Public shareholders own the rest of the company's stock.
Shareholder
Geely has been steadily trimming its stake in Volvo cars. It initially retained an 84% interest in the company following its IPO in 2021. That stake was down to 82% by 2023. It fell even further (down to 78.7%) after Geely sold another 100 million shares in November 2023.
Geely has been selling off shares to increase Volvo's trading liquidity and offer more opportunities for other investors to participate in the company's long-term strategy of driving value creation by switching over to producing electric vehicles.
Board of directors
Who is on the board of directors for Volvo?
Volvo has a separate board of directors from Geely Holding.
Board of Directors
The company's board consisted of:
- Eric Li (Li Shufu) is Volvo's chairperson and has been a board member since 2010. As the founder of Geely Holding, Volvo's majority shareholder, he owns a significant stake in Volvo (either directly or via related parties), holding more than 2.3 billion shares at the end of 2023.
- Lone Fønss Schrøder has been Volvo's vice chairperson since 2018 and a board member since 2010. She has over 20 years of experience in various senior positions at A.P. Moller Maersk (OTCMKTS:AMKBY)(OTCMKTS:AMKBF)(OTCMKTS:AMKAF). She held almost 25,000 shares at the end of 2023.
- Jim Rowan is president and CEO of Volvo and a board member. He has extensive executive management experience, including previously serving as Dyson's CEO and chief operating officer (COO). He held 685,000 shares at the end of 2023.
- Anna Mossberg has been a board member since 2022. She brings extensive management experience to the board, including serving as the CEO of a couple of companies. She held about 2,100 shares of Volvo stock at the end of 2023.
- Lila Tretikov has been a board member since 2021. She brings extensive experience to the company's board, including serving as CEO of several companies. At the end of 2023, she held almost 1,200 shares of Volvo stock.
- Daniel Li (Li Donghui) has been a board member since 2012. He's the CEO of Geely Holding and has extensive management and board experience. At the end of 2023, he didn't own any shares of Volvo.
- Diarmuid O'Connell has been a board member since 2021. He brings varied experience to the board, including previously working for the U.S. Department of State and serving in several executive roles at Tesla (TSLA -4.08%). He owned almost 1,200 shares of Volvo at the end of 2023.
- Jonas Samuelson has been a board member since 2020. He brings experience serving in various finance roles in the auto industry. Samuelson also has executive experience as the CEO of AB Electrolux (OTCMKTS:ELUXY)(OTCMKTS:ELUXF). At the end of 2023, he held about 19,800 shares.
- Ruby Lu is a board member and brings venture capital experience to the board (she founded Atypical Ventures and co-founded DCM China). At the end of 2023, she owned 65,000 shares of Volvo.
- Jorgen Olsson has been a board member since 2016. He's the chairman of Unionen, a Swedish white-collar trade union. At the end of 2023, he owned 580 shares of Volvo.
- Adrian Avdullahu has been a board member since 2021. He's the vice chairman of IF Metall, a Swedish trade union. He didn't own any Volvo stock at the end of 2023.
- Bjorn Olsson has been a board member since 2010. He's a union representative of IF Metall and owned 220 shares of Volvo at the end of 2023.
- Anna Margitin has been a deputy board member since 2016. She has held several positions within Volvo Car Group over the years and owned 786 shares at the end of 2023.
- Marie Stenqvist has been a deputy board member since 2022. She represents IF Metall and owned 500 shares at the end of 2023.
How to invest
How to invest in Volvo
Volvo is a publicly traded company, so you can invest in the stock of the Swedish automaker. Shares trade on the Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchange and on the OTC Markets exchange in the U.S.
Given those listing locations, you'll need to ensure your broker can trade international stocks or those on the OTC market exchange. If not, you must open another brokerage account to invest in Volvo. Here's a list of the best brokers for international trading.
You should take time to research brokers to find the best one for you. You also need to check under the hood of Volvo to make sure it's a good investment for you.
Once you've opened and funded an internationally capable brokerage account and thoroughly researched the company, it's time to buy shares. Before you do that, you'll need to determine how much you want to invest in the company.
A good rule of thumb is to have a diversified portfolio of at least 25 stocks with roughly equivalent allocations. For example, if you plan on investing $10,000, you'd invest around $400 into each stock, including Volvo Cars.
Related investing topics
When you're ready to buy shares, you'll open the order page at your brokerage account and fill out all the required information, including:
- The number of shares you want to buy (or the amount you want to invest in fractional shares if your broker allows that for an international or OTC-traded stock).
- The correct stock ticker for Volvo Cars (VLVOF on the OTC Markets exchange). Make sure you select the stock ticker for the car company and not its former parent, AB Volvo.
- The order type (market or limit order). The Motley Fool recommends a market order because it allows you to place an order at the current price.
Take a moment to double-check everything to ensure the information is correct (especially that you have the right Volvo ticker). When you're ready, click submit to become a shareholder of Volvo Cars.
FAQ
Which company owns Volvo: FAQ
Who is the real owner of Volvo?
The real owner of Volvo is Chinese automaker Geely. The company acquired the Swedish automaker from Ford in 2010 for $1.8 billion. While Volvo completed an initial public offering in 2021, it remains a public subsidiary of Geely, which owns a majority stake in the company (78.7% at the end of 2023).
Why did Ford sell Volvo?
Ford sold Volvo to Geely Holding in 2010 for $1.8 billion, a significant loss considering Ford paid over $6 billion for the brand in 1999. Ford sold Volvo because it had shifted its focus to its core brands following the 2007-2009 financial crisis. The automaker also sold its luxury brands, Jaguar and Land Rover, the prior year to Tata Group.
Does GM still own Volvo?
GM (NYSE:GM) does not still own Volvo. It never has owned the Swedish automaker. Ford owned Volvo from 1999 until 2010 when it sold the company to Chinese automaker Geely. It's now a publicly traded subsidiary of that company.
When was Volvo sold last?
Volvo last sold in 2010 when Chinese automaker Geely bought the Swedish automaker from Ford. Geely still owns a majority stake in the company. However, in 2021, Geely completed an IPO of a minority stake and has been selling down its interest in the Swedish automaker.
