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New Volvo CEO Samuelsson envisions US market would need

high-volume model

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Samuelsson vows to deliver turnaround plan to boost share

price

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He sees electrification, profitability, regionalisation as

key

to strategy

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, April 3 (Reuters) - Volvo Cars'

new top executive said on Thursday the company

would produce more cars in the U.S. while ramping up its

regionalisation efforts, just as a 25% U.S. tariff on global

autos takes effect.

European companies are scrambling to find solutions as President

Donald Trump's 25% duties on foreign cars became effective and a

bigger-than-expected wall of import tariffs was unveiled on

Wednesday.

Volvo Cars, which made an unexpected decision on Sunday to

replace its CEO with former CEO Hakan Samuelsson, has struggled

lately, with its share price falling to record lows amid a

slowdown in demand for electric vehicles and global uncertainty.

As the company held its annual general meeting in Gothenburg on

Thursday, investors were eager to hear what Samuelsson, who led

the company for more than 10 years until 2021, would say about

plans to revive the share price and improve the company.

"The share price has not developed as you shareholders have

expected ... This is an indicator that our shareholders are not

fully invested in Volvo Cars," Samuelsson said, adding that it

would be his job to win that faith back in the company.

He said he would look at ways to cut costs and improve

strategy, which would include ramping up its regionalisation

efforts with hubs in China, the U.S. and Europe.

"We are well prepared in China and in Europe. But we need to

be better in the U.S. to get around the import tariffs,"

Samuelsson said, adding he expected to ramp up production at its

Charleston plant in South Carolina.

His comments mirrored those made by

former

CEO Jim Rowan to Reuters

in March. The company currently produces a pricier electric

SUV, the EX90 in the South Carolina factory, as well as

Polestar's Model 3, while its cheaper model, the EX30, will

start production soon in Europe.

"I think the next car should be some car with a high volume

in the U.S. ... I don't know exactly what that car would be," he

told Reuters, adding that what might be a best selling car today

would perhaps not be the same in five years.

"So I think we have to scratch our foreheads and think."

Samuelsson told investors he would take some time to look

at what had already been done in his absence and that he

expected to return in a month or two with a turnaround plan for

the company and a strategy focused on continued electrification,

profitability and regionalisation.

"To think that you can produce one type of car in one place

and send it across the world is a thing of the past," he told

investors.