(FORTUNE Magazine) – The Volvo-Renault alliance -- which will create an automaker with sales of $45 billion, $10 billion more than Chrysler -- puts a spotlight on Volvo chief Pehr Gyllenhammar, 54, who tried for years to find a corporate mate. The dowry: a big exchange of stock. Gyllenhammar will continue to run Volvo, which has seen exports to the U.S. battered by exchange rates. He's had firsthand experience of how marriage can produce good business opportunities. He became Volvo's chief executive at 36, succeeding his father-in-law, Gunnar Engellau. Before that, he followed his own father as head of Skandia, Sweden's largest insurance company. But Gyllenhammar is no inept beneficiary of nepotism. He is widely regarded as one of Europe's most gifted managers. Good thing: He carries 8% of Sweden's GNP on his shoulders. Opinion polls say he's more popular than the King or Prime Minister. Listen to that, Lee Iacocca.