Tag: CEO

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Peloton to replace its CEO, cut 2,800 jobs

Beleaguered health enterprise Peloton claimed Tuesday it will switch CEO and co-founder John Foley as the model seeks to get back again marketplace and buyer confidence. Barry McCarthy, who has held leadership roles at Spotify and Netflix, will develop into the new CEO, powerful Wednesday, the organization introduced. 

“Today’s leadership modifications are the culmination of a succession preparing method that the Board and John have worked on together about the final quite a few months,” in accordance to a assertion from Peloton launched Tuesday early morning.

The business also announced it would be slashing 2,800 employment, or 20 p.c of its corporate workforce. It will also pull back again on its Ohio manufacturing facility, a $400 million investment that was expected to convey additional than 2,000 positions to Troy Township.

Peloton is claimed to be attracting desire from possible prospective buyers, shortly just after it was termed out by an activist investor who claimed the company really should try to market alone and hearth Foley. 

For would-be prospective buyers, the draw isn’t the company’s linked exercise equipment, but the billions of data details it has on its shoppers.

“The key draw to acquire Peloton would be all the details generated by Peloton’s properly-heeled subscribers,” said David Wagner, portfolio supervisor at Aptus Cash Advisors.

Amazon is exploring the notion of getting Peloton, The Wall Street Journal described final 7 days, even though the Economic Moments independently named Nike as a different prospective suitor. And Dan Ives, analyst at Wedbush, recommended that Peloton could be a fantastic acquisition for Apple, indicating it “would make strategic sense” for the Iphone maker to create on its present linked health and fitness initiatives linked to its Apple Look at gadget. 

It is a swift and ignominious tumble from grace for a one-time darling of the “stay at home” economy. When Peloton experiences earnings on Tuesday, it will be from a really unique placement than the corporation was in as lately as a yr before, when it was valued at just about $50 billion. Right now, that determine is closer to $8 billion. 

A calendar year back, Peloton was valued at virtually $50 billion. Today, that determine is nearer to $8 billion.

Previous month, minority shareholder Blackwells Cash termed for the organization to search into providing itself and pushed for firing Foley, whom it blamed for “multiple management failures” that drove down Peloton’s share rate value. In a letter it despatched to the company’s board, Blackwells ticked off a laundry list of missteps, including “high fixed prices, too much inventory, a listless technique, dispirited staff members and 1000’s of disgruntled shareholders.” 

Though Peloton is the most seen and has a commanding guide in phrases of market share, there are other players in the related-health space, and just one business says those people could be eroding Peloton’s edge. Study business M Science observed that Peloton’s marketplace share in the at-house physical fitness category for machines with $1,400-and-up selling price tags ticked up at the finish of 2021 to just above 70 percent, but it unsuccessful to attain 2019 and 2020 sales in November, irrespective of Black Friday promotions. 

Peloton has currently taken some drastic actions, briefly halting the manufacture of its flagship stationary bicycle and larger-end Bike+, alongside with its Tread treadmill, CNBC claimed, citing internal files. (CNBC also observed that Peloton expects that it won’t produce any of its Tread+ treadmills, which have been the subject of a basic safety recall in 2021, in its recent fiscal 12 months.) 

The components portion of the business enterprise, inspite of becoming the auto that allows Peloton accumulate all the knowledge and pounds from buyers, is wherever the organization has confronted the most complications, from the Tread+ recall to source chain issues.

“We have a important amount of fastened expenditures involved with our provide chain, significantly inside middle and final mile logistics,” CFO Jill Woodworth explained to investors on the company’s November conference simply call, noting that these expense pressures ended up impacting margins.

Peloton has currently taken some drastic steps, quickly stopping the manufacture of its flagship stationary bicycle and larger-finish Bike+.

As the country moves much more to reopening and a perception of publish-pandemic normalcy, Peloton has struggled to the right way assess need, Foley stated. “Consumer conduct and source chain inputs have been pretty hard to forecast in the shorter phrase,” he informed investors on the same meeting phone.

Though the corporation is most closely associated with superior-conclusion stationary bikes, analysts say the would-be purchasers who have reportedly expressed fascination in attaining it would be much more enthusiastic in Peloton’s large trove of customer knowledge, primarily wellness-relevant metrics. 

“The price below is in the purchaser base and the details all-around those consumers, and with any software system, that’s the appeal of the acquisition,” stated Logan Purk, a exploration analyst at Edward Jones. “I believe if you’re parsing by means of the facts, you could see the customers’ routines and traits… so you can cater to that variety of consumer foundation as you drive more into training and fitness,” he said.

Wagner mentioned hardware profits would likely be the minimum vital section of the offer, primarily for a larger engineering firm like Amazon or Apple. “A great deal of the information encompassing the wellbeing information and facts for its clientele, for its users, is likely to be the most price additive,” he mentioned. “The cross-offering optionality there is infinite when you have someone’s wellness data.”

Forrester Exploration senior analyst Anjali Lai said that a potential purchaser could reward from merging Peloton’s client data with its existing trove of shopper behavioral insights. “The major tech and founded health and fitness models can grow their access in the health and fitness room and come to be significantly extra embedded in customers’ lives,” she explained via e mail. A firm like Amazon or Apple could use data about people’s physical exercise behaviors in buy to goal revenue of other health or wellness-associated products and solutions and products and services these types of as wellbeing-monitoring, new music and enjoyment, for occasion.  

Peloton’s subscriber base, which numbered approximately 2.5 million as of the company’s past quarterly report in November, is yet another vital asset, since membership subscriptions account for about two-thirds of the company’s profits. “In typical, Peloton’s value proposition is not so substantially in the components as it is in the subscription profits,” explained Sarah Henry, handling director and portfolio supervisor at Logan Money.

Henry stated that amongst the companies that have reportedly expressed curiosity, Nike would feel to gain most if it ended up to purchase Peloton. “Conceptually, in thinking of Nike, just one of the strongest factors of their investment tactic is this notion of neighborhood, and that is an intangible Peloton seriously delivers to the desk,” she reported. Other analysts pointed out that Nike’s significant brick-and-mortar retail footprint would gain endeavours to sell Peloton workout products.

Any offer would appear with chance, however, Henry added. “They’re not a organization that has carried out a ton of acquisitions,” she pointed out. Relative to tech heavyweights like Amazon and Apple, Nike is also a lot scaled-down and does not have the very same diploma of money reserves. 

There are other roadblocks to a sale, not the minimum of which is Foley’s unwillingness: As the founder, he and other crucial executives hold the lion’s share of voting electricity at the onetime pandemic property-physical fitness juggernaut. “That’s the challenge with the buyout of a founder-led corporation, which indicates the deal would need to have to be major plenty of that the board simply cannot say no, because there’s fiduciary accountability to shareholders,” Purk explained. The prospect of regulatory scrutiny also could boring the hunger of would-be potential buyers. 

But for the right organization, Peloton could be worthy of the expenditure, analysts say. “I consider with any of the huge tech providers making this acquisition, it boils down to escalating a shopper base and offering an additional company to retain people today in your ecosystem,” Purk said.

“The concern is, for any strategic consumer, how considerably of a quality is there — and which is the major issue,” said Ken Leon, director of fairness study at exploration firm CFRA.

For just about every Peloton person who could possibly grow to be an Amazon Prime member or Apple Music subscriber, the pipeline could function in reverse, as effectively. Leon said it is hard to convey to how large the untapped demand for Peloton is, but it could be sizable, provided the amplified curiosity in wellness and fitness activated by Covid-19.

“In the pandemic, men and women were actually looking for well-currently being and health,” he mentioned. “The full addressable current market is unclear, but it’s possibly extremely huge.”

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Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath sees tenfold sales growth by 2025

How do you address the pitfalls made by Polestar’s significant reliance on manufacturing in China, which has tense trade relations with the U.S.?

The photo that you attract is of right now. In the potential, we will have U.S. creation in South Carolina, starting off with the Polestar 3. As our lineup grows, we will go to Europe, mainly because we want to have output in all 3 significant areas. Thus, we will not conclusion up staying China-dependent with our manufacturing.

Volvo builds the Polestar 1 at a manufacturing facility in Chengdu, China, and the Polestar 2 in Luqiao. Would you contemplate assembling the two versions at the same plant to increase efficiencies?

We never put all our cars and trucks into a person manufacturing facility since with our small business model, we go the place that architecture is currently in output. We see this as beneficial for the reason that it does not subject that the Polestar 3 is in a further factory for the reason that this is just not an supplemental expense for us.

If it goes together with Volvo’s long term electrical flagship SUV in Charleston, that is great. We basically observe exactly where the car’s architecture is currently being produced. We just have to make confident that the engineering we have to have is implemented in that manufacturing unit and that it is really possible to suit our auto in there.

How a lot of an effect has the chip crisis experienced on Polestar?

We have some leverage because of the dimensions of our organization. Every person understands that we are in an critical developing period and that we are very considerably dependent now on a person solution (the Polestar 2). That indicates we never have the prospect to maneuver all over between distinct products and solutions and plants.

Polestar aims to sell 65,000 automobiles this year, up from 29,000 in 2021. Has the chip disaster pressured you to look at adjusting your intention?

When we set the focus on for 2022, we did so with the chip shortage in mind. So far, we have had no rationale to modify our outlook downward, but who is aware how bad matters will be.

With Volvo likely all-electric, how will Polestar differentiate itself?

The aim of the Polestar variety is to be sportier and to have a more powerful target on the driver. Even if it really is an SUV these kinds of as the Polestar 3, it will have a modern silhouette, which means there will be much less emphasis on cargo area and much more emphasis on the propulsion. It will also have a much more daring layout. I have constantly explained that a Volvo need to not provoke individuals. It ought to have a incredibly higher acceptance from just about every and every single consumer profile. A Polestar will be far more progressive and avant-garde thus, it will not be cherished by every person, but it will handle its enthusiasts.

How is your strategic prepare diverse today from what it was when you and your colleagues were being generating the firm?

When we began the prepare, the U.S. was generally nowhere when it came to EVs, and quickly it has grown to a industry with extensive acceptance. Given that we planned on getting in the U.S. from our get started, we could adapt pretty quickly to the improve, which has authorized us to rapidly ramp up from 4 Polestar Areas to 25.

In Europe, the 1st 7 markets we chose have been taking part really nicely in the potent EV development there. And when we commenced, China was not so significantly ahead of the other marketplaces when it arrived to premium electric powered vehicles.

The U.S. has been a nice surprise for Polestar. Has that led to any variations to your promoting?

Our strategy has modified a large amount in the U.S. The biggest sign of how a lot came in the autumn of 2021 when we switched our promoting to a countrywide spread. In advance of it was constantly concentrated on locations where we noticed or predicted substantial uptake of EVs. This displays that EVs are no long a regional or regional matter in the U.S. It has a significantly broader attain and enchantment.

Volvo needs 50 percent of all worldwide profits to be carried out on-line by 2025. Polestar currently utilizes the Website for all profits. How numerous of these are certainly on line, and what proportion is done at a single of your Polestar Areas or pop-up stores?

This would suggest a really stringent separation involving the two, but that was in no way our strategy. What we know is the take a look at generate is a super essential aspect for everybody. Hence, it is a supplied that you need to have to offer the customer the option to have some call with the products. This generally transpires at a Polestar House.

What we also have uncovered out is that the overpowering the vast majority of consumers have no challenge performing the funding and other facets of the deal on their mobile gadget. If they require further aid, they can get it by using an on line chat or by heading to a Polestar House. Situations in which a client does all the things at a Polestar Room, such as purchasing or leasing the auto there, are very uncommon.

Will your retail design of mainly having city showrooms be tweaked as soon as the better-quantity Polestar 3 arrives?

This is currently getting spot. In the U.S. previous 12 months, we went from four to 25 Polestar Spaces. This undoubtedly will accelerate with the maximize in quantity that will occur with the arrival of the Polestar 3. It is occurring in all the international locations where we are energetic as we transfer from staying in the massive capitals to the next wave of areas.

Are you observing an sign that the curiosity in EVs is increasing further than the big towns in which Polestar is active?

Of course. An instance exhibiting that EVs are gaining broader acceptance arrived this summer when we opened a pop-up charging station as a sort of promotional celebration. We made the decision to place it midway among Stockholm and Gothenburg.

The initially working day we opened, all the examination drives were taken. These were being nearby folks in the center of nowhere who would have never ever absent to Stockholm and Gothenburg for a take a look at travel, but they were joyful to try an EV when we came to them.

That clearly gave me an indication that there is a selected team of buyers who will be open up to the brand once it comes closer to them.

Polestar has a lot of perform to do to access its 2025 intention, proper?

Certainly. By then we want to improve to 290,000. It is really incredibly obvious a ton has to come about in the subsequent handful of several years to obtain such a quantity. We will extend into more markets and enhance the dimensions of our lineup by adding the Polestar 3, 4 and 5. This will give us a merchandise portfolio with two SUVs (the Polestar 3 and 4) and two fastback sedans (the Polestar 2 and 5).

We will be served by the switch from combustion engines to electrification. I think about this will keep rising, resulting in a snowball effect. The far more EVs that are driven all over, the far more persons will be uncovered to them and the more the infrastructure will mature. That will be a pleasant dynamic in this field.

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Albert Bourla of Pfizer is the CNN Business CEO of the Year

But Bourla was our preference for all that Pfizer has finished in a year in which Covid vaccines went mainstream (vaccine was even named term of the year by Merriam-Webster) and helped stabilize America’s economic system — and the world’s for that make a difference.

“Pfizer did a great deal of great [for] humanity and we are quite, pretty happy of it,” Bourla mentioned in an job interview with CNN Enterprise. “Not only have been we able to save so numerous life … but we are experiencing superior ranges of corporate track record appropriate now. Folks like us.”

Hoping to get Covid capsule authorised in early 2022

Pfizer is just not the only company that has created a vaccine. But the Massive Pharma chief, even far more so than its European partner BioNTech (BNTX) or rival vaccine developer Moderna (MRNA), has come to be synonymous with the battle from Covid.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was the first authorized in the United States for 5- to 11-year previous young children. But numerous mother and father of even young youngsters are now ready to hear about when a vaccine may well be accredited for toddlers, toddlers and pre-schoolers.
A 8 year-old child receives their first dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine at the Beaumont Health offices in Southfield, Michigan on November 5, 2021.

Bourla said he understands the disappointment of mothers and fathers who are fully vaccinated but are not able to get their youngest young ones guarded.

“We are working pretty intensively on that to make absolutely sure we can provide a answer for that,” Bourla stated.

Final data on pills to treat Covid-19 holds strong against hospitalization and death, Pfizer says

“We are searching at different doses, perfectly down below the doses that have been utilized [for adults and older kids.] We know that it will be risk-free. What we are on the lookout to see is if that will guard them by offering the decrease dose,” he added.

But Pfizer announced following the interview with CNN Business took spot that it is nonetheless assessing no matter if a few lesser doses of its vaccine will be productive for kids below 5 after obtaining two boy or girl-sized doses ended up not manufacturing the anticipated immunity in 2- to 5-calendar year-olds.
In addition, Pfizer has developed a pill that could greatly minimize the threat of significant complications, hospitalization and dying for people who contract the virus. The Food items and Drug Administration announced adhering to the job interview with Bourla that it experienced accepted Pfizer’s Paxlovid oral therapy.

But Bourla pressured to CNN Business enterprise that the pill is not meant to be a substitute for the vaccine.

Completely ready to start an Omicron-particular vaccine if required

The the latest rise of the Omicron variant has created fears all-around the world about the efficacy of the current vaccines. But Bourla instructed CNN Enterprise that he thinks its and BioNTech’s vaccine will management Omicron “pretty nicely,” specially if folks have gained two doses and the booster.

He conceded, having said that, that it is possible Pfizer will have to have to launch a new vaccine to especially target Omicron or any other foreseeable future variants. Bourla explained Pfizer is previously creating a shot aimed at Omicron, and that he thinks it could be tested and submitted to regulators for acceptance by March.

If Pfizer demands to develop Omicron-precise shots, that will not slow the production of the current vaccine, Bourla explained.

A freezer farm for Covid-19 vaccines at the Pfizer Kalamazoo Manufacturing site on February 19, 2021, in Portage, Michigan.

“We are aiming for a four billion [dose] annual production capability of our latest vaccine. And if we have to switch concerning the two, the old and the new, we nevertheless will make 4 billion. We you should not count on that we will eliminate any volume,” he reported.

Bourla also acknowledged that there are cynics who issue whether Pfizer is just making an attempt to make as a lot income as achievable from the vaccine.

Immediately after all, Pfizer explained in its newest earnings launch in November that it produced $13 billion in income from the vaccine in the third quarter and that it now expects $36 billion in earnings from it for the comprehensive calendar year.

Vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine during a vaccination event at Manning High School in Manning, South Carolina, on Friday, March 12, 2021.

Bourla informed CNN Business enterprise that it is charging poorer, developing nations a lot less for the vaccine than it does to wealthier international locations. But price tag isn’t the only obstacle. He mentioned some international locations, these kinds of as those in remote components of Africa, are “missing primary infrastructure.”

“They never have facilities to vaccinate men and women, particularly in distant spots. They do not have ample nurses,” he claimed. “Sometimes they are lacking syringes, in some cases they are lacking refrigerators so that they can retail store the vaccine. So this is regretably the situation.”

Bourla is hopeful the Earth Wellness Organization and the public-personal vaccine alliance Gavi will be in a position to help solve some of these concerns. He also explained the company is on the lookout into drone shipping far more to be certain that people get the vaccine much more rapidly.

“We are carrying out every thing we can to locate ourselves on the right [side] of record,” he mentioned.

Bourla also continued to anxiety that the vaccine is harmless and that the only way for lifestyle to return to typical is for folks to get the shots.

“I you should not see any motive why up coming year will not be a ordinary year if we do the simple things that are out there for us,” Bourla explained. “If we have extremely massive figures of men and women that really don’t want to do a third dose or you should not want to vaccinate at all, which is a trouble.”

Extra to Pfizer than the Covid vaccine

Pfizer and Bourla aren’t resting on their laurels.

The company has also been at the forefront of creating lots of other promising blockbuster medication this kind of as blood thinner Eliquis, breast cancer treatment method Ibrance and rheumatoid arthritis capsule Xeljanz, as nicely as the Prevnar loved ones of pneumonia vaccines.

Bourla is thoroughly aware that for a drug enterprise to keep on being prosperous, it has to have even a lot more promising medications in the pipeline.

A number of of Pfizer’s recent major sellers are owing to drop patent protection in the next handful of a long time. When they expire, that opens the door for more affordable generic prescription drugs to contend with them.

That’s a major reason why Pfizer introduced plans for a practically $7 billion deal earlier in December to receive Arena Prescription drugs (ARNA), a firm acquiring prescription drugs to address immuno-inflammatory diseases. The acquisition came just one particular thirty day period soon after Pfizer done a extra than $2 billion purchase of cancer drug maker Trillium Therapeutics.

“It’s challenging to multitask,” Bourla mentioned. “But let’s not overlook what else we are operating on. There are so a lot of medicines for most cancers, for other infectious health conditions, for cardiovascular conditions, for other ailments.”

“We are heavily invested suitable now in most cancers,” Bourla included. “The most significant proportion of our R&D investment goes into oncology correct now.”

Traders have rewarded Pfizer, which ironically plenty of was booted from the venerable Dow Jones Industrial Typical in 2020 just a few months prior to its vaccine was approved. Shares are up virtually 65{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} in 2021 — much more than any Dow inventory — and are not much from a history significant.
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Fashion house Chanel hires Indian-born Leena Nair as CEO

NEW DELHI — The luxury fashion house Chanel has chosen Leena Nair, an industry outsider from India and longtime executive at Unilever, to be its new CEO.

Analysts say her hiring signals how the brand is accounting for changing consumer awareness of the industry’s environmental impact and the importance of diverse hires.

Nair said on Twitter that she was “humbled and honored to be appointed the Global Chief Executive Officer of @CHANEL, an iconic and admired company.”

The news made a huge splash Wednesday in India, Nair’s birthplace, where she received scores of congratulations and compliments to her announcement, one calling her a “serial glass-ceiling breaker.”

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The appointment is full of “historic firsts,” said Abhay Gupta, CEO and founder of consultancy group Luxury Connect in India.

“I am elated. This is the first time an Indian is heading a global luxury brand, that too an Indian woman, and it’s the first time a fashion industry outsider has been picked,” he said.

People of Indian origin are at the helm of a number of global tech, finance and other companies, but the same can’t be said for luxury brands. Gupta, who also runs a school for luxury management, said his students would be “inspired” by the news.

“It’s very encouraging and motivating, especially since we haven’t seen this before. Coming from a non-luxury background, I expect she’ll bring fresh perspective — it’s a sign that things are changing,” he said.

While Nair, 52, is not a part of the Paris fashion scene, Chanel has a wide range of products in addition to its high fashion designs, including eyeglasses, watches and makeup.

Nair is succeeding billionaire co-owner and chairman of privately held Chanel, Alain Wertheimer, as CEO. A grandson of Chanel co-founder Pierre Wertheimer, he remains as global executive chairman of the fashion house.

In a press announcement, Chanel said Nair’s hiring “will further ensure long-term success as a private company.” Nair is due to step into her new role in January and she’ll be based in London.

British consumer goods giant Unilever describes Nair as its first woman, first Asian and youngest chief human resources officer. She joined Unilever in 1992 in India and advanced up the ranks, spending time at the company’s factories early on.

Nair’s appointment is “a welcome change from the kind of formulaic model of the executives that tend to run major luxury brands,” said Imran Amed, founder and CEO of the Business of Fashion, an influential industry news website.

While it’s not uncommon for fashion brands to tap people from consumer goods companies for senior jobs, they usually come from marketing departments because of their expertise in managing brands — a luxury fashion company’s most important asset.

But Chanel’s decision to hire Nair, with her lengthy background in human resources, underscores the company’s efforts to adapt to evolving consumer and workplace attitudes toward sustainability and diversity, Amed said.

Nair has “really been focused on these kinds of topics during her time at Unilever,” Amed said. “I think that that signals a really important challenge for Chanel as it seeks to modernize its corporate culture.”

Her appointment is seen back home as a sign of the rising stature of Indian business leaders. It’s also a milestone for women, because so few of them head up big luxury brands, Amed said.

In her social media posts, Nair has described India-born former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi as a friend and mentor. Nair herself recently was awarded the Great British Businesswoman Role Model of the Year award.

But she is not the first woman to be CEO of Chanel. Earlier, Francoise Montenay and American Maureen Chiquet held that role. And of course, the co-founder of Maison de Chanel was a woman, the late Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel.

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Fashion icon Chanel chooses Indian-born Leena Nair as CEO

By KRUTIKA PATHI and ELAINE KURTENBACH – Associated Press

Posted:

Updated:

NEW DELHI (AP) — The luxury fashion house Chanel has chosen Leena Nair, an industry outsider from India and longtime executive at Unilever, to be its new CEO.

Nair said in a Twitter post that she was “humbled and honored to be appointed the Global Chief Executive Officer of @CHANEL, an iconic and admired company.”

The news made a huge splash in India, Nair’s birthplace on Wednesday, where she received scores of congratulations and compliments to her announcement, one calling her a “serial glass-ceiling breaker.”

The appointment is full of “historic firsts”, said Abhay Gupta, CEO and founder of consultancy group Luxury Connect in India.

“I am elated. This is the first time an Indian is heading a global luxury brand, that too an Indian woman, and it’s the first time a fashion industry outsider has been picked,” he said.

People of Indian origin are at the helm of a number of global tech, finance and other companies, but the same can’t be said for luxury brands. Gupta, who also runs a school for luxury management, said his students would be “inspired” by the news.

“It’s very encouraging and motivating, especially since we haven’t seen this before. Coming from a non-luxury background, I expect she’ll bring fresh perspective – it’s a sign that things are changing,” he said.

While Nair, 52, is not a part of the Paris fashion scene, Chanel has a wide range of products in addition to its fashion designs.

Nair is succeeding billionaire co-owner and chairman of privately-held Chanel, Alain Wertheimer, as CEO. A grandson of Chanel co-founder Pierre Wertheimer, he remains as global executive chairman of the fashion house.

British consumer goods giant Unilever describes Nair as its first woman, first Asian and youngest ever chief human resources officer. She joined Unilever in 1992 in India and advanced up the ranks, spending time at the company’s factories early on.

Nair is due to step into her new role in January. Her appointment is seen back home as a sign of the rising stature of Indian business leaders, especially women.

In her social media posts, Nair has described India-born former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi as a friend and mentor. Nair herself recently was awarded the Great British Businesswoman Role Model of the Year award.

But she is not the first woman to be CEO of Chanel. Earlier, Francoise Montenay and American Maureen Chiquet held that role. And of course, the co-founder of Maison de Chanel was a woman, the late Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel.

Nair is married to financial entrepreneur Kumar Nair and has two sons.

AP Business Writer Kurtenbach contributed from Bangkok.

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Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson is confident of hitting higher profit margins

Q: What is your outlook for the rest of 2021 and 2022?

A: That is a difficult question because of the semiconductor shortage. We had good momentum, then coronavirus outbreaks in the Far East closed down some of our component suppliers, including those providing semiconductors. As a result, we lost production of about 50,000 vehicles.

We offset this by really reducing our stock levels; therefore, the actual registrations loss was about 30,000 compared with last year. But now the dealer stock is very low because they have sold out everything they have. The fourth quarter definitely looks like it will be better, so the loss in production will be lower, but any losses will result in lost retail sales.

Overall, things will be better in the final quarter of 2021, but they still will not be back to normal. By the first quarter of next year, we should be back on track with only minor disruption from the chip shortage. It’s too early to say what that will mean for the full-year results in 2022.

Will you still be able to set a global sales record in 2021 by topping the 705,452 vehicles Volvo sold in 2019?

It’s within reach, but it depends on how the production problems in the Far East develop. We are close, so maybe we will celebrate a new all-time high. It’s not impossible.

What about the target of 800,000 sales? Will this goal get pushed to 2022 or 2023?

Absolutely. We thought we were more or less on our way to get there because after the first half of this year, when we added up the previous 12 months of actual figures (June 2020 until June 2021), we were at about 775,000.

At that point you could almost round up to 800,000. But since then, we have dropped back because we lost so much production in the third quarter.

What are the indicators that show the chip crisis is coming to an end?

We see it in the confirmed deliveries from suppliers. After having big cuts in the third quarter, better volumes of components are coming in. As a result, we will have to close our factories and halt production less often in the fourth quarter.

How much is the pandemic still impacting business?

When it comes to the day-to-day basis, here in Sweden, we are back to normal. You don’t see anybody wearing masks, not even when you’re traveling within the country on an airplane. Most people are back in their offices.

The big problem we have when it comes to conducting business is traveling to the U.S. and China. China is still very isolated. We haven’t been there in almost two years.

We are planning to go to the U.S. in the coming months. While we have gotten much better at remote meetings, sometimes you really want to meet people face-to-face.

What effect is it having on how Volvo retails vehicles?

We are shifting to online sales, direct sales and electrification, and you can’t get people to make the transition by simply writing an email and asking them to get things implemented by Monday.

This is slowing us down as we try to get everybody to understand the objectives and execute the changes. How much of an impact this has is unknown. But we probably would be further along if we didn’t have the restrictions.

I have been really frustrated that we cannot speak with our retailers face-to-face in many places because of the restrictions.

Volvo wants half of all global sales to be done online by 2025. Where do things stand now?

We are at 5 to 10 percent in the markets where we offer this. Germany is close to 10 percent and the U.S. is at about 5 percent. We also offer online sales in Holland, Sweden and Norway. On top of that, all of our full-electric cars will only be sold online. Right now, they account for 3 to 4 percent of our sales. (Volvo’s goal is for 50 percent of all global sales to be full electric by 2025.) We will have a big step increase in EV capacity next year when we have a full year of sales of the C40.

One of your long-term goals at Volvo was to have an operating margin of 8 to 10 percent. In the first half, helped by better pricing, the margin was 9.4 percent. How sustainable is that level of profitability?

When it comes to this year, we will be back to pre-coronavirus levels, which is a margin of about 5 to 6 percent, like we had in 2019 (when the full-year margin was 5.2 percent). From there, we will move forward. By mid-decade it should be at 8 to 10 percent, so we need to be around 3 percentage points better.

How will you do that, especially when the shift to full-electric vehicles will initially add cost?

We need to offset that cost by developing cars more affordably, which includes using common architectures within the Geely Group and also by simplifying the car. This will happen because with EVs, we will no longer need things such as fuel tanks and engines.

The goal is that by mid-decade, the cost to produce an electric car will match the cost of making a mild hybrid today.

But that does not give us any profitability improvement. That is why it’s crucial to find a more efficient way to distribute and sell cars. That’s an area where we can really be better. This will include transparent, consistent pricing so we avoid internal competition and discounting. We also want a simpler product offering, which will allow us to better manage our stock and reduce capital costs. All of that should improve profitability.

Does listing the company in public trading help boost your profitability?

Very indirectly. When you have to explain your strategy to investors you get sharper. Those smart questions that came up during the listing process were very helpful. Also, being forced to report where you are on a quarterly basis is a bit unpleasant when you have bad results, but it is an opportunity to explain what you are going to do to be better in the future. The scrutiny is good.

In addition, the listing makes the company a bit more attractive as we try to build up our expertise in, for instance, the software area. People often like working for a listed company where they have the possibility to purchase shares and be enrolled in a stock-based bonus program.

Volvo has aggressively moved into plug-in hybrids, but now the transition to full electrification has accelerated, especially in Europe. If you could do it over again, would you put more emphasis on battery-electric vehicles and less on plug-in hybrids?

Only if we would have known five years ago that the charging network would be sufficient as of today. That has not happened. Therefore, plug-in hybrids were a necessary intermediate step.

I think long term there will be very few plug-in hybrids, but that will only happen when we have a large enough charging infrastructure.

On the plus side, about 40 percent of our sales in Europe are plug-in hybrids. That’s a step toward electrification. All of those customers are closer to moving into a full-electric car than if they had purchased another diesel. Therefore, we made the right decision.