Volvo aims to compete with BMW and Benz: Li Shufu

Shanghai August 4 (Gasgoo.com) After Geely closed its purchase of Ford Motor Co's Volvo unit on Monday, Li Shufu, chairman and founder of Geely revealed to the media that he hopes to turn Volvo to a top high-end model that can compete with Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

Volvo is known for its safety. Li said in addition to introducing more high-end vehicles to compete with Benz and BMW, Geely will enhance Volvo's brand awareness in China and boost the R&D on Volvo cars.

Li added that so long as Volvo can sell 380,000 vehicles per year, the company can reap a profit. In order to take the initiative in the competition, however, Volvo has to significantly increase its sales volume. Last year, Volvo sold nearly 335,000 units, having a loss of 653 million dollars.

Geely Group completed its 1.5 billion dollars' acquisition of Volvo on Monday, officially replaced the U.S. Ford Co. as the new owner of this Swedish car brand.