Volvo eyes China, US for sales rebound

SHANGHAI - Auto manufacturer Volvo Car Group expects the Chinese and US markets to support a turnaround in its global sales in 2013 after reporting its first loss in three years.

Hakan Samuelsson, the company's president and CEO, said the US, its largest market, and China, its second-largest overseas buyer, will help raise its shrinking global sales, which have been weighed down by the European economic recession.

The company expects to sell 7 to 8 percent more vehicles in China and 5 percent more in the US in 2013.

Samuelsson made the remarks during the company's ongoing annual conference.

The company was first sold to Ford Motor Company in 1999 and then to Chinese automaker Geely Automobile for $1.8 billion in 2010.

Li Shufu, Geely chairman of the board, said the company has achieved sound results in the Chinese market after two years of adjustment and integration.

The company has forecast sales of 200,000 units in the Chinese market by 2020.

Volvo's global retail sales declined 6.1 percent year-on-year to 421,900 units in 2012, dragged down by a 10-percent decrease in the European market, according to data released by the company on Jan 7.

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