Two decades after their split, the two Volvos occupy very different positions.
Volvois the world’s second-largest truckmaker and one of Sweden’s biggest companies by revenues and market capitalisation. On the other hand, Volvo Cars, sold off in 1999 to Ford, struggled for much of the period following the separation and is now owned by Chinese carmaker Geely.
But with both companies in highly cyclical industries and facing up to another period of economic uncertainty, the messages of their respective chief executives last week were remarkably similar. They were also a sign of how managers round the world are grappling with how to run their businesses in the face of a new downturn.