1989 Volvo Bertone 780 Coupe on 2040-cars

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Volvo announces a move away from wagons and sedans as SUV fever spikes

Volvo will move away from station wagons and sedans as it pivots towards an electric-only lineup. While it won't abandon either body style, it hinted it will pare down its presence in both segments as it launches more crossovers. "We need less variants of sedans and wagons. We have a lot of wagons today, with the V60, the V90, the Cross Country, and the non-Cross Country, plus a lot of sedans big and small, long, and extra-long. We need to move from wagons and sedans. We will still have them in the future, but probably not as many," warned company boss Hakan Samuelsson in an interview with British magazine Autocar. He pointed out Volvo's sales mix is about 75% SUVs. Volvo's portfolio in 2021 includes two wagons, the V60 and the V90. Each one is available as a regular low-riding model, or as a Cross Country-branded high rider with all-wheel-drive and rugged styling cues. Selling wagons in 2021 is difficult, even for a brand like Volvo that's been closely associated with the body style for decades. American motorists fell out of love with the long-roof years ago, and Chinese drivers never liked them to begin with. Europeans still buy lifted wagons, but low-riding models are a tough sell, even in Volvo's home country of Sweden. Reading between the lines suggests non-Cross Country-badged models will be axed from the range in the coming years. As for sedans, Volvo has two: the S60 and the S90. It's not too far-fetched to speculate that at least one won't be replaced at the end of its life cycle. While nothing is official yet, and this is just a guess, our money is on the S90. High-riding vehicles are what the market wants in the 2020s, and Volvo (like everyone else) is following demand. It added a fourth model to its palette of crossovers and SUVs when it introduced the 2022 C40 Recharge, an electric soft-roader with XC40 underpinnings and a fastback-like roof line. Unverified rumors claim a flagship model tentatively called XC100 is on its way, and Samuelsson confirmed an entry-level crossover called either XC20 or C20 is currently under development. The model's architecture will come from China-based parent company Geely. Samuelsson explained the shift to an all-electric range will have a profound effect on Volvo's design language. First, a lot of its upcoming cars will be taller, because it's easier to pack a bulky battery pack into a crossover than into a sedan. Second, the firm's future design language will be more streamlined.

Geely's new EV plant in China will build premium Polestar cars

BEIJING/SHANGHAI — An electric vehicle factory planned by China's Geely will produce cars under the premium Polestar marque, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday. Zhejiang Geely Holding Group plans to build a plant with annual manufacturing capacity of 30,000 premium EVs in the western city of Chongqing, run by a wholly owned, newly registered company, according to documents on its website. Geely and Polestar declined to comment. The plan comes as foreign automakers including BMW AG and Tesla expand EV production in the worldÂ’s biggest market, sourcing major EV components such as batteries locally and often even exporting a portion of the vehicles it builds. Hangzhou-based Geely is ChinaÂ’s most internationally known automaker. It owns Volvo Cars and Lotus, almost half of Proton and 9.7% of Daimler AG. Through wholly owned company Polestar, it builds low-volume Polestar 1 hybrid performance cars in the western city of Chengdu and Polestar 2 volume sedans in Taizhou in the east. It also plans to begin production of the Precept sedan, displayed at this yearÂ’s China auto show. Polestar aims to eventually offer bigger, more sporty vehicles at its showrooms, which currently span nine countries and whose number it plans to raise to 45 from 23 by year-end. Polestar Chief Executive Thomas Ingenlath told Reuters the firm is scouting markets in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Geely is also building a factory in China to make sport-utility vehicles under the Lotus marque, Reuters reported.  

Aurora, Volvo partner on self-driving heavy trucks

Global heavy truck manufacturers are lining up technology partners to help build out self-driving systems for long-haul freight that could see widespread commercial service well before self-driving robotaxis. The latest alliance was announced Tuesday between Sweden's Volvo Group and California-based Aurora Innovation, building on a working relationship that dates back several years, the partners said. Analysts expect more such partnerships, as relatively young technology firms such as Aurora connect their autonomous vehicle systems knowledge with the deep manufacturing experience of legacy companies such as Volvo Trucks. “You can't go at it alone in autonomy," said Grayson Brulte, president consultancy Brulte & Company. "The trucking industry is a completely different personality" than the passenger vehicle business, with different requirements. Most of the larger truck manufacturers have turned to self-driving tech partners, driven in part by a chronic shortage of drivers and a boom in e-commerce, fueled by the global pandemic. In January, Aurora announced a strategic partnership with U.S. truckmaker PACCAR, whose brands include Peterbilt and Kenworth. Aurora's founders include self-driving veterans from Tesla and Alphabet's Waymo. Aurora last year said its first commercial product would be in trucking "where the market is largest (and) the unit economics are best." In 2020, Waymo Chief Executive John Krafcik told Reuters that "goods delivery is a bigger market than moving people" as Waymo expanded its focus to include heavy trucks. Germany's Daimler has formed a self-driving truck alliance with Waymo, while China's largest heavy truck maker, FAW Jiefang, has partnered with Plus AI. Volkswagen's Traton truck group is an investor in TuSimple, as is U.S. truckmaker Navistar. In a January earnings call, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said the long-delayed Semi electric truck is highly likely to be the first of the company's vehicles to achieve full self-driving capability. Green Volvo Truck Autonomous Vehicles Commercial Vehicles volvo trucks Aurora