Volvo Is Opening its US Factory to Other Brands
Open Production Floor
Volvo Cars is opening up its doors to other automakers in a bid to maximize its production facility in South Carolina. Volvo Cars' CEO, Hakan Samuelsson, went on record at the Future of the Car Conference that the brand can do something to help the U.S. auto industry.
The move is opportune and comes at a time when other automakers are working around U.S. President Donald Trump's duties on imported cars. American brands are set to receive up to $2.3 billion in tariff refunds, but others aren't as lucky. New developments could see other imported cars jump up in price. With that, Volvo may be able to help imported brands set up shop with a small catch.
Looking for Production Partners
President Donald Trump wants to bring manufacturing back to the United States. Foreign brands like Toyota, Honda, and Nissan are even producing products for export back to Japan, which is a more favorable landscape for automakers with local U.S. production facilities. However, not every brand is as fortunate as Audi and Porsche, to name a few.
Volvo is determined to build more cars in the U.S., and it's even open to cooperation with other brands. The deal there is assembly, construction, parts sourcing, and supply chain. The current production capacity of the Volvo plant is set at about 150,000 cars per year.
The factory is located in Ridgeville, South Carolina, and it's currently producing the Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3, with the XC60 planned for production later this year, 2026. While Volvo may have its own production to worry about, it's also concerned with facility expansion and its goal of being more present in the U.S.
When asked why Volvo is open to partnerships, CEO Hakan Samuelsson said, "That is something I think we need as we are now increasing our presence in the U.S." He continued, It's part of the regionalization of the world, we need to be much more industrially present in the U.S., and we need to fill the factory we have here."
The Catch: Geely Holdings
Zooming out, Volvo's openness to partnership could be part of a bigger plan for Geely to gain more footing in the U.S. The Chinese auto group has just entered Canada under the Lotus brand, and Volvo and Polestar are well-positioned to facilitate the group's growth.
The strategy could play out well for Geely, as Volvo is one of the group's trump cards, already giving it an advantage over other Chinese brands without U.S. plants. If another brand were to step into the Geely Volvo factory in South Carolina, technically speaking, Geely Holdings would become more present in the U.S., a feat that other Chinese brands are currently struggling with at the moment.
Volvo's CEO also went on record, stating that he is open to producing low-cost Chinese-based EVs in the U.S., essentially leaving the door open to Geely to enter and sell their cars under the leverage of local assembly.
Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 7:15 AM.