STOCKHOLM -- Volvo Cars announced on Thursday that it had appointed Lars Danielson as Senior Vice President for Volvo Cars China Operations, succeeding Freeman Shen, who had held the position since 2010.

The new Senior Vice President was expected to ensure the necessary support from the Volvo Group to the local Chinese sales and marketing team so as to realize progress of sales and brand building in China, according to a press release from the company.

Meanwhile Danielson was also supposed to take a renewed strategic responsibility to secure that the sales and marketing deliverables were well coordinated and executed in the local market, it added.

"China plays a critical role in the transformation of Volvo Cars and the realization of our long-term strategy and business plan depends on us succeeding in China," said Hakan Samuelsson, President and CEO of Volvo Cars.

"Lars Danielson has many years of valuable experience within Volvo Cars and he has successfully led the establishment of our manufacturing plant in Chengdu. I am confident that Lars, together with a dedicated team, will deliver on the next phase of our China growth plan," said Samuelsson.

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