(Reuters) -Volvo Cars has reappointed Hakan Samuelsson, who served as CEO of the company from 2012 to 2022, as chief executive, after the group warned last month that it could be in for a challenging 2025.

Samuelsson, 74, will succeed Jim Rowan, who will step down on March 31. Samuelsson will serve a two-year term while the group prepares to appoint a long-term successor, it said in a statement on Sunday.

Rowan's exit comes only about three years after his appointment in January 2022, which followed Volvo's listing on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 2021. 

"We are very pleased to welcome Hakan Samuelsson back as CEO," Eric Li, Volvo Cars chairman of the board, said in the statement. Li said the company was facing fast-moving technological shifts, growing geopolitical challenges, and intensifying competition.

"He brings a rare combination of industrial depth, strategic clarity, and proven leadership and Hakan has a broad knowledge of our group," Li said.

Last month, Volvo Cars, majority-owned by China's Geely, warned that 2025 would be a tumultuous and competitive year during which it might struggle to match its 2024 sales performance and profitability.

Geely Sweden, which manages the group's investments in the European brands such as Polestar and Volvo Cars, declined to give further comment.

(Reporting by Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru and Johan Ahlander and Marie Mannes in Stockholm; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Jane Merriman)