Volvo CE Rents will add company-owned stores to its rental business, augmenting its franchise network of rental centers, the company said this week. Whether the store will be franchise-owned or Volvo-owned depends on the particular circumstances in the market, the company said. To strengthen the profile of Volvo Rents and make the company more independent from Volvo CE, the company will make the rental business a subsidiary to AB Volvo and no longer will be a part of Volvo CE.
Volvo also has named Scott Hall president and CEO of Volvo Rents, reporting to the chairman of the Volvo Rents board Mikael Bratt, chief financial officer of AB Volvo. Barry Natwick, previous Volvo Rents president, will take on a new position as chief operating officer of Volvo Rents, reporting to Hall, who previously spent 11 years as executive vice president and head of global sales and marketing at Volvo CE. Hall will relocate to the new Volvo Rents headquarters in Shippensburg, Pa.
“Scott Hall has done an extraordinarily good job as head of global sales and marketing and I am very pleased that he has accepted this new challenge,” said Olof Persson, president and CEO of Volvo CE. “I am convinced that he, together with Barry Natwick and the rest of the team, has the capabilities to grow Volvo Rents to a sizeable business.”
Volvo also named Eberhard Wedekind executive vice president, sales and marketing at Volvo CE. Wedekind will be based in the Volvo CE headquarters office in Brussels, Belgium, succeeding Hall. Wedekind has 16 years experience in a number of senior roles within the company, including vice president marketing and sales within the compact equipment business line, and senior vice president global marketing and senior vice president processes and systems, at Volvo CE.
“In addition to his wide experience in the sales and marketing area, he has also recently led the important growth of our business in Asia,” said recently appointed Volvo CE president Pat Olney.
