Put forth as an effort to shield Volvo from currency swings, the manufacturing of US-bound cars in China is not seen as a negative step by company CEO Hakan Samuellson. In fact, he recently said they would start exporting Chinese-made Volvos to the States “fairly quickly,” shying away from giving an exact time frame.

According to Autonews Europe, the Volvo boss explained that the company “is in a unique position to use China as a manufacturing and export base,” since it’s now part of Geely. He doesn’t think US consumers will take badly to hearing the news of PRC manufacturing, offering the example of smartphones (not necessarily the best one, since smartphones are far simpler and easier to make).

However, not that it is strictly related, but it’s not uncommon for cars built under license thousands of miles away from their home to not be as good as their domestically-manufactured counterparts. That is especially true when the factory that you build it in is new, being operated by a newly-trained crew whose only connection with the core company concepts are the higher-up executives, the only ones usually brought in, to run things from a corner desk.

For instance, members of the UK Dacia owners’ forum, those who have Dusters are already complaining of rust, poor build quality, some missing components and other related mishaps. Those who bought Sanderos and Logan MCVs have so far reported far fewer problems with their cars. The explanation stems from the fact that the Duster is built in India, where they reportedly rushed to complete them in time for shipping and slipups occurred, whereas the other two are built in Romania to what is apparently a higher standard of quality.

Not saying this is the case with Volvo or Geely, but it is something to keep in mind. In the eventuality of the quality going south, at least their cars hold the promise of looking pretty…

Do also check out the latest Volvo commercial below. It features professional American basketball player Jeremy Lin using an XC60 crossover to do his workout routine.

By Andrei Nedelea

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