GOTHENBURG, Sweden -

Volvo officially has a new leader for its U.S. operations to replace Doug Speck, who has a new role.

Appointed this week to serve as president of Volvo Cars of U.S. is John Maloney, acting president of Volvo Cars of North America since May.

The move was effective immediately. Meanwhile, Speck has taken the role of senior vice president of marketing, sales and customer service for Volvo Car Corp.

As for Maloney, he has been with the automaker since 2000, and his most recent post was as vice president of marketing and product planning for Volvo Cars of North America.

“The U.S. market is vital for the ambitious growth targets we have set for the company. Therefore, I am very happy that John has accepted to lead our U.S. business,” stated Volvo Car Corp. president and chief executive officer Stefan Jacoby.

Maloney — whose experience in the business goes back almost 30 years — came to Volvo from Ford.

“The future for Volvo in the United States is very bright and I’m honored to lead the brand during this very exciting time,” Maloney stated. “My priority is to build upon the 2011 success and remain focused on delivering sustainable growth driven though our core volume products: the Volvo S60, XC60 and XC90.”