Klaus Zellmer will replace Håkan Samuelsson as the CEO of Volvo Cars, but he won't step into the hot seat until October 1, 2027.

This is likely due to a non-compete clause in his contract with Skoda, which has led since the middle of 2022. During his time in charge, Skoda has become the one shining light in the otherwise troubled Volkswagen Group.

Its sales rebounded from a post-COVID low of 731,100 in 2022 to 1.05 million in 2025. Last year Skoda's operating profit margin was a very healthy 8.2 per cent. By way of comparison, the entire margin for the Volkswagen Group was 4.6 per cent, and that's expected to fall to around one per cent this year.

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According to Skoda, at the start of Mr Zellmer's tenure the brand was in 10th place in the European sales race, but finished second during the first half of 2026. The one blot on his copybook is the brand's departure from China, where sales collapsed from 300,000 per year in 2018 to just 15,000 last year.

Born in 1967, Mr Zellmer has a degree in business administration, and one of his first jobs in the industry was with the Institute for Automotive Economics at the Nürtingen-Geislingen University of Applied Sciences.

He spent most of his working life at Porsche, working his way up to become the managing director of Porsche Germany and then from 2015 the CEO of Porsche North America.

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In 2020 he moved to the Volkswagen brand to become its global boss for sales, marketing and after sales. Two years later he was appointed as Skoda's CEO.

Skoda confirmed Mr Zellmer's immediate departure from the company, and thanked him for "his great commitment and his significant contribution to the continued development of the Skoda brand". Holger Peters, Skoda's chief financial officer, will become the brand's interim CEO as the marque looks for a new chief executive.

It will be interesting to see if Volvo is able to negotiate an early end to Mr Zellmer's non-compete clause. Regardless, the company is promising there will be a "seamless transition" from Håkan Samuelsson, who was brought back for his second stint as CEO in April 2025 to provide "stability during a pivotal period for the company while preparing for a long-term successor".

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Eric Li, Volvo's chairman, lauded Mr Zellmer's "strong record of guiding organisations through transformation and changing market conditions", and noted "his experience from both the high-end premium segment and high-volume brands, is an excellent fit for Volvo Cars".

In a prepared statement, Mr Zellmer said: “Few automotive brands have built such a strong and lasting reputation for safety, consistently applying this core value across the mobility sector. I admire Volvo Cars’ timeless, contemporary design language and the clarity of its brand identity.

"The company has a solid foundation and an experienced team, and I look forward to working with colleagues across Volvo Cars to build on these strengths."

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