STOCKHOLM, June 27 (Reuters) - China's Geely Holding

, the main owner of Volvo Cars, Lotus and

other auto brands, has appointed a new board chair at its key

European investment company to replace founder Eric Li, it said

late on Thursday.

Danish business veteran Lone Fonss Schroder will take the

helm at Geely Sweden Holding's board, which oversees the Chinese

group's European businesses, Geely said in a statement, without

elaborating on the reason for the switch.

She replaces Li, also known as Li Shufu and Geely's top

shareholder. Li is also the chair of Volvo Cars.

Last year, Li urged a greater strategic focus at Geely to

improve synergies and eliminate internal competition.

So far, that has involved merging teams and restructuring

some of its brands such as Zeekr, Geely Auto

and Lynk & Co, as well as moving or axing executives

and board members at Swedish brands Volvo Cars and Polestar

.

Loss-making Polestar, where Li is majority owner via Geely

Sweden and private holdings, will also replace two Geely board

members at a June 30 shareholder meeting.

Schroder will step down from the board of Volvo Cars, where

she has been a member since 2010, and instead take a seat on the

automaker's nomination committee in charge of board

appointments.

Former Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson was unexpectedly

brought back to run Volvo in March at a turbulent time for the

carmaker marked by tariff pressures and market uncertainty.