STOCKHOLM (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.