Dan Werbin to head Volvo Cars of North America, LLC
Dan Werbin assumes the duties of President and CEO of Volvo Cars of North America. He replaces Vic Doolan, who held the positions during a transition period, May to October 2001.
Mr. Doolan will now focus full attention to his duties as Executive Director of the Premier Automotive Group (PAG) North American operation, which he also held during the transition. PAG is an affiliate of the Ford Motor Company.
Mr. Werbin will provide executive leadership to the largest global market for the Swedish manufacturer, with its North American headquarters located in Irvine, CA.
Prior to assuming his current duties November 2001, Mr. Werbin has had a extensive, diverse, and distinguished 31 year career at Volvo, which includes product planning, engineering, sales and executive management assignments.
His most recent assignment was President and CEO of Volvo Cars Japan, beginning in 1996. Previously, Mr. Werbin helped bring the Volvo S40 and V40 to fruition, leading a product and industrial project of major scale that involved close cooperation and negotiations with the Mitsubishi Motor Corporation.
Mr. Werbin has played a significant role in other product development at Volvo, as well. From 1978 through 1986 he headed the Product Planning Division paving the way for the 850, Volvo's first front-wheel drive product, which was introduced in 1992 to the US market.
Mr. Werbin's previous experience with the US market began in 1973, when he established a Volvo Product Engineering and Development department here. And through 1978, he consolidated a competitive product program for the whole of North America. During that time, he also developed and maintained constructive relations with various government agencies regarding safety and environmental issues.
As a graduate of Chalmers University in Göteburg, Sweden with a Master of Engineering Degree, Mr. Werbin joined Volvo in 1970. His first responsibility as product specialist was to assist in developing the first safety concept car from Volvo, the Volvo Experimental Safety Vehicle, VESC.
Volvo Cars of North America, LLC is part of the Volvo Car Corporation of Göteborg, Sweden. The company provides marketing, sales, parts, service, technology and training support to Volvo automobile retailers in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The 2002 Volvo automobile line includes the sporty S60 and S60 AWD sedans, the flagship S80 luxury sedan, versatile V70 wagon and rugged Cross Country, C70 coupe and convertible, and compact S40 and V40 models.
