Volvo, the Sweden-based, Chinese-owned carmaker, is seeking to head off protectionist sentiment in the US by exporting cars to China from an American plant. The factory being built in South Carolina will employ 4,000 workers and produce a small sedan that will be sold in Europe and China starting in 2018.
Hakan Samuelsson, chief executive of Volvo Cars, said producing cars in the US for export, particularly to China, offers a powerful rebuttal to accusations that China is taking US jobs.
“From an American horizon we see that we create 4,000 jobs in South Carolina. Half of those jobs will be related to export to Europe and China,” said Mr Samuelsson, speaking at the Volvo booth in the Shanghai Auto Show.
