FORD Motor Co said yesterday it was tightening control at its sole remaining European brand by appointing Volvo's first non-Swedish chief executive officer since buying the carmaker in 1999.

Stephen Odell, 53, was named yesterday to steer a money-losing brand that has lost sales in its biggest market, the United States, under Ford stewardship. The US luxury leaders, Toyota Motor Corp's Lexus and Bayerische Motoren Werke's BMW, meanwhile, have boosted US volume by more than 75 percent, according to Bloomberg News.

'He has to figure out a way to make Volvo popular again,' said Aaron Bragman, a Michigan-based auto analyst for Global Insight Inc. Volvo was once central to a failed Ford plan to reap one-third of its profits from luxury autos in 2006. Three of the units - United Kingdom-based Jaguar, Land Rover, and Aston Martin - have been sold. The Gothenburg-based company survived a review last year that concluded the marque would remain part of Ford 'for now.'

A US dollar that has weakened since 2002 against the Swedish krona has made Volvos more expensive to sell in the US. That helped trigger a 24 percent slide in demand from 2004 through last year, and sales have plummeted another 19 percent this year through July.

Odell, a UK native, is the fourth president of Volvo since Ford purchased the Volvo Cars unit of Volvo AB in 1999 for US$6.43 billion. Odell currently is the No. 2 executive of Ford's profitable European unit. He previously held posts at Japanese affiliate Mazda Motor Corp, one-third owned by Ford.

He replaces Fredrik Arp, who joined Volvo in 2005 from Trelleborg AB, a Swedish maker of vehicle parts. Arp, 54, 'decided along with Ford management now was the best time' for a change in leadership at Volvo, Ford spokesman Mark Truby said.