Volvo to spend more on US leasing and advertising

January 18 (autoevolution) The fact that Geely is now at the helm of Volvo allows the Swedish executives to concentrate more on the future and, as far as the United States is concerned, the company is ready to inject more money into local operations. The first two areas to be boosted are leading and advertising, both of which are expected to help the car manufacturer score a double-digit increase this year as compared to 2010.

As far as advertising goes, Volvo wants to spend in the first quarter of this year almost the same sum it injected in the last 12 months, with special campaigns to be aired on TV as well. Last year, Volvo purchased only two weeks of TV commercials, both for the new S60 sedan, Automotive News wrote.

"We were running on a strategy that maintained margins at the expense of volume," said Doug Speck, CEO of Volvo Cars of North America.

But Volvo's plans for the United States go well beyond the leasing and advertising budgets. In order to increase its market coverage there, the Swedish manufacturer is considering bringing units manufactured in China to be sold in the United States, thus trying to minimize exchange risk. Of course, such a thing is not yet confirmed, but company CEO Stefan Jacoby confirmed that China could lend a hand of help in this matter.

"The major challenge here in the US is that we're too dependent on euro-US dollar exchange rates. China offers an opportunity in that respect. It doesn't get rid of but at least allows us to reduce currency risk exposure," Jacoby said.