Volvo: Still Focused on 100% Electric Vehicles, Even If World Drags Its Feet

Electric vehicle adoption is much further along than most people a decade ago thought it would be. Perhaps not in the US, where adoption has been quite meh, but globally, in China, in South America, and in Europe, electric vehicle uptake has been quicker than conventional wisdom presumed it would be. However, there have been slowdowns in the US, in Europe, and even in China as federal policies have changed. Automakers have pulled back on their EV plans, even writing off billions of dollars in investment due to shifts in strategy. Volvo Cars, however, is intent on staying the course.

Volvo Cars Still Focused on 100% Electric

Håkan Samuelsson, CEO of Volvo Cars, recently talked about this, and explained at least some of the reasons why Volvo Cars needed to stay focused on electrification. At 75 years old, Samuelsson has surely seen many phases of the industry come and go. Perhaps he has the sense that despite short-term slowdowns or speed bumps, the industry is going to electrify — there’s no stopping the technological progress — and it makes more sense to focus on the long term than constantly try to adjust to shifting near-term trends. Well, let’s see what he has to say.

Samuelsson noted recently that he had said previously that Volvo Cars should be fully electric by 2030, and he’s not budging on the overall point. “We should be prepared to be all electric because I am totally convinced the future for a small company like Volvo is not to try to slow down development. We should try to speed up,” Samuelsson said. The industry as a whole should have the same aim, he added. “We think it should be faster and we want to be faster than the others.”

It’s a Regional World

Globalization may have been the theme of the 20th century, but it’s all about tailored regional focus in the auto industry today.

“Globalization is dead. Now it is a regional world,” added Samuelsson. Models for China are for China and probably going to stay there. Models for Europe are for Europe and mostly going to stay there. Then there’s the US … which is clearly behind those two markets on electrification and still favoring gas-powered cars, including plug-in hybrids.

He does think there is room in the US market for the Volvo X60 and the even larger, three-row Volvo EX90. How much can Volvo Cars build off of these two electric models toward full electrification in the US market? We’ll see. For sure, though, the US is not at the forefront of the company’s electrification transition.