Volvo CEO: new pure electric vehicles launched in the second half of the year will be produced in China and exported to Europe and Japan
CTOnews.com March 23, Volvo CEO Jim Rowan said in an interview with Nikkei that the new pure electric vehicle (EV), which went on sale in the second half of this year, will be produced in China and plans to be exported to Europe and Japan.
It is said that the new car will be a subcompact sports utility vehicle, smaller than other models of the company, or roughly the same size as the Toyota Corolla Ruifang Cross. He did not disclose the price of the all-electric SUV, saying only that it would be cheaper than the XC40 crossover model.
The new strategic electric vehicle will target "a new market segment", "it will be a new crowd, a young customer and more online sales".
He said that the "turning point" for the sales of pure electric vehicles in high-end cars to exceed gasoline vehicles will be 2025 and 2026, and the new small pure electric vehicles after the price reduction will be positioned as strategic vehicles to open up new customers.
"We will open up newer groups and younger customers and sell more products online," Rowan said. He revealed that the new car would be "cheaper than existing models" because it uses Geely Holdings's GM all-electric chassis to reduce costs through production in Chinese factories.
Volvo has previously said it plans to switch entirely to all-electric vehicles in 2030 and aims to sell 600000 all-electric vehicles a year by 2025, nine times as many as in 2022, most of which is expected to be contributed by the new car.
According to previous reports from CTOnews.com, Volvo is preparing to launch a total of six new all-electric models by 2025, including the model and the large SUV "EX90" launched in November 2022.
The Volvo chief executive stressed the cost-effectiveness of owning a global supply chain, even as he sought to modernise infrastructure. "one of the things I actually invest in now is digitization, the more digital the supply chain, so we can get that visibility."
