Volvo chief Jacoby takes sick leave after mild stroke
 | Jacoby: "I was lucky." |
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STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -- Volvo Cars CEO Stefan Jacoby suffered a mild stroke last week and will take sick leave for the next month.
Jacoby, 54, was placed under medical supervision and has already started the recovery process, the automaker said in a statement Sunday.
"I was lucky that it was a mild stroke," Jacoby said in the statement. "I am currently experiencing limited movement abilities in my right arm and, to some extent, also in my right leg. I have started to recuperate and already notice certain improvements."
He said he would focus on resting and exercising with the hope of getting back to work as soon as possible.
Jacoby spent most of his professional career at Volkswagen AG and was VW's top U.S. executive from September 2007 until he took the Volvo job in August 2010.
Jacoby started working for VW in 1985 in the industrial sales controlling department. From 1997 to 2001, he was responsible for VW's Asia-Pacific region. Jacoby left Volkswagen in 2001 to work for Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s European operations. He returned to VW in March 2004.
Volvo Cars is now owned by China's Zhejiang Geely. Jan Gurander, Volvo's CFO, is serving as acting CEO during Jacoby's absence.
Jacoby said recently that Volvo was struggling to build up its retail operation in China, where annual sales were unlikely to meet a 2015 target.
Volvo cars are currently imported to China from factories overseas, but the company is looking to set up production in the country in the coming years.
Volvo is aiming to sell 200,000 cars a year in China in 2015 as part of a 2020 global sales target of 800,000. It sold almost 450,000 cars worldwide last year.
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