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Business & Money

Volvo confirms Jeremy Lin endorsement deal

Published: 21 Mar 12 09:29 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/39800/20120321/

American basketball star Jeremy Lin has officially signed a deal with Swedish car manufacturer Volvo, with the company hoping he will boost interest in their products among Chinese car buyers.

Lin, whose parents are of Taiwanese origin, signed the deal agreeing to be the face of Volvo for two years.

"You may not immediately see the connection between me and Volvo. But both of us are striving to be better and smarter at what we do, and to do it our own way,” Lin, 23, said in a statement, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Lin, who is the only National Basketball Association (NBA) player with a Harvard University degree, is one of only a handful of Asian Americans to ever play in the league.

He had sat on the bench of the New York Knicks in relative obscurity, until a series of team injuries forced him into the spotlight, under which he shone – leading the struggling team to five consecutive wins in what media dubbed a “Lin-derella story”.

The Swedish car manufacturer, owned by China's Zhejiang Geely, has noticed the potential market value of Lin to Chinese customers, after the so-called "Linsanity" has swept American fans off their feet and created a resurgence in the Knicks' fanbase.

Freeman Shen, senior vice president of Volvo Car Corp. and chairman of Volvo's China operations is looking forward to the collaboration.

"For our region, Jeremy Lin is the pride of the whole Chinese population, and we are excited to work with him," Shen told the paper.

The endorsement, which is arranged to be for two years, will be focused in the United States, China, and the Chinese speaking market.

The Local/og (news@thelocal.se)

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10:53 March 21, 2012 by Decedo
Makes sense. Volvo, a Chinese company uses a major Asian sports figure. Come to think of it, wonder how many Asian immigrants work at Volvo in Sweden?
14:17 March 21, 2012 by GiraffeLau
"For our region, Jeremy Lin is the pride of the whole Chinese population, and we are excited to work with him" !!??

excuse me, he's Taiwanese, not Chinese!!
15:03 March 21, 2012 by Max Reaver
@GiraffeLau

If Lau is part of your real name, then you must be Cantonese speaking or from Taiwan... Anyway, the NBA news reports mostly address Lin as "NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent". Also. face it. Nobody gives a damn about how proud the Taiwanese population is about Lin, it's the mainland audience with their sheer number that matters. Besides, the Taiwanese ppl are ethnically Chinese, unless you talk about the aboriginal Taiwanese who reduced in their numbers after Chiang's army crossed over the strait.
08:37 March 22, 2012 by Nilspet
@Decedo

Hardly any. Most workers at Volvo factories in EU are European citizens (there is one big one in Gent, Belgium). Lin is big in countries where NBA is shown on TV, unfortunately not in Sweden.
14:08 March 22, 2012 by Shawntooth
it probably relates to volvo's new brand position, obviously people are not gonna view volvo as a luxury car in europe while in some other countries it could, and to select Lin who's BIG at the moment in asia and US, it's definitely a good idea:)

as for lin's nationality (american), i think english lacks of the requisite word like in french....if you say someone is francophone, it doesn't not necessarily mean he's french; when he's referred as an ethnic chinese, people are not saying his parents are necessarily born in PRC . taiwanese people's self-identity can't be gained through fear and denial, it only results to the fact that many taiwanese living abroad pretend to be japanese, so sadly shameful.
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