Volvo Trucks UK and Ireland has appointed a new managing director, Christian Coolsaet, with effect from 1 September. Coolsaet, a 55-year-old Belgian, has been with the Volvo Group since 1997, the first five years in the bus sector. Since then, his career has seen him in senior roles in markets that include Ukraine, Romania, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and South Africa. Since 2015, he has been managing director of Volvo Trucks Germany.
Coolsaet replaces Robert Grozdanovski, who is moving to Gothenburg to become senior vice president for the Europe Sales Area, Central East and East. Volvo Trucks president Roger Alm said “With his leadership and focus on building strong customer relationships, together with a solid Volvo background, Christian Coolsaet will be excellent in the role of leading Volvo Trucks in UK and Ireland and continue building on the great work done by Robert Grozdanovski, to further develop our position in the UK market.”
Coolsaet will be part of the management team for Volvo Trucks’ Europe Sales Area, South and West, reporting to senior vice president Jörgen Sjöstedt. Coolsaet’s posting to Volvo’s Warwick HQ won’t be a great shock, as prior to joining the Swedish company, he worked in the Midlands for a Belgian bus manufacturer, and he also has two teenage sons studying at Warwick university.
He said “I am very excited to return to the UK. In all those years, I have always kept a soft spot for this market, and I am very much looking forward to working with the customers, retail network and my team. We have a very exciting autumn ahead of us with the launch of our new Heavy Duty truck range with four fantastic new trucks, which we very much look forward to present to customers in the UK and Ireland.”
