Volvo Cars warns EU restrictions will raise costs and opens European plants to Geely’s EV brands

Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson said a new European Union package aimed at reducing dependence on American technology could increase costs for carmakers and shrink markets if it goes too far. He added that European alternatives would be welcome only in a competitive free market.

At the same time Volvo is offering its European production capacity – currently in Torslanda, Sweden, and Gent, Belgium, with a new plant planned in Košice, Slovakia – to manufacture vehicles for Chinese sister brands Zeekr, Lynk & Co and Geely. The move is intended to give those brands a faster, cheaper entry into Europe before stricter EU investment rules and upcoming tariffs on Chinese electric cars, which are set to begin in October 2024. Samuelsson stressed Volvo’s independence and that each Geely brand will retain its own identity, while the company works with the Belgian government to lower labour and energy costs.