Volvo announces the revolution. Starting in 2030, the Chinese-owned Swedish automaker (Geely) will sell exclusively electric cars and will only sell them online. A turning point that follows the announcements already made by other manufacturers such as General Motors, the European division of Ford, Jaguar and Bentley.
Through a press release, the CEO of Volvo Hakan Samuelsson announces his intention to review the commercial strategy, accelerating the transition to electric. “Volvo intends to become a leader in the rapidly growing market for high-end electric cars and plans to transform itself into an automaker with an all-electric offering by 2030. By that date, the Swedish company will sell only fully electric cars and will phase out from its global portfolio any cars that have an internal combustion engine, including hybrid models.
“It makes no sense to linger any longer in following a market segment (that of internal combustion or hybrid cars, ed) which is constantly shrinking, and therefore this acceleration is necessary”, continued the manager. Until a few days ago, the company's strategy envisaged continuing to produce hybrid and combustion cars, leaving half of total production to electric cars. With the change of pace announced today, petrol and diesel will be retired early, also because Volvo has also planned an intermediate step to 2025. By this date, half of its global sales will be fully electric cars, with the remaining half made up of hybrids.
It should be noted that last year, the Swedish company launched the XC 40 Recharge, the first pure electric vehicle. Today, however, it presents the new electric car of the 40 series, diversifying the offer of its green cars.
“The future of Volvo Cars is defined by three pillars: electric, online and growth“added Lex Kerssemakers, Head of Global Commercial Operations.
Volvo's strategy focuses particularly on the segment that has shown the largest and fastest growing margins in the global automotive industry: the premium electricity market. These vehicles can only be purchased online. Can we say goodbye to dealerships? Not exactly. The latter "will remain a crucial part of the customer experience and will continue to be responsible for a series of important services such as sales, preparation, delivery and assistance", says Volvo, which, however, in order to push the online, will transfer a whole series of services to the web, from booking coupons and spare parts to offering car insurance policies.
The online and offline experience will be fully integrated. “Wherever the customer is – online, in a dealership, in a Volvo Studio or driving the car – the customer experience must be first-rate,” concluded Kerssemakers.
