Emre Karaer on how Volvo moves into first gear

The premium car maker hit some speed bumps the past years, but is now well on its way to reaching its destination, says Emre Karaer.

Emre Karaer, GeneralManager - Volvo CarMENA & CIS

After moving into first gear at the height of the financial crisis, premium car maker Volvo is gradually gaining momentum. Emre Karaer, General Manager - Volvo Car MENA & CIS, said 2012 saw their sales result in the Middle East at an all-time high.

“Our growth in 2014 has been in line with the industry performance, but new products – at least two will be launched every year until 2019 – are expected to allow us to grow faster than the industry average and help us reach our global average segment share of 10 per cent by 2017,” he said.

The first to be launched is XC90, developed under a new platform that is unique to Volvo, the SPA (Scalable Product Architecture) and the new power train VEA (Volvo Engine Architecture). Investments for SPA and VEA stand at US$11 billion, which confirms the new products’ importance to Volvo.

“In addition, Volvo Car Group is the only automotive company that shares the Dubai Government’s ‘0’ Vision, meaning no fatal accidents or serious injuries will occur in a Volvo by 2020. We are proud to be part of this big step,” Karaer said. The XC90 will be the first product to pave the way for this ultimate goal.

For environment-conscious customers, Volvo will also launch its XC90 Hybrid, dubbed as the world’s cleanest and fastest sports utility vehicle (SUV), in the Middle East by 2015.