Debut in June for the Urban Suv EX30 while in 2024 we will see the maxi EX90, followed by Sport Utility models and sedans: The Swedish brand wants to attract collaborations with European manufacturers in the zero-emission premium
February 02
Electric acceleration for Volvo, which intends to convert its entire model range with a faster progression than the goals already set last year, which envisaged a list of exclusively battery-powered vehicles by 2030. Indiscretions collected by the agency Reuters instead they report the start of a major transformation of the brand, the most sensitive since its acquisition in March 2010 by the Chinese group Geely Holding Group. Precisely the growing role of the latter in the European car market would have prompted a real zero-emission takeoff for Volvo, destined to reposition itself faster than expected with as many as six electric models by 2026, according to the news agency.
luxury fittings
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Geely, as is well known, is the protagonist of the most recent news, with the creation together with Renault of a company 50% owned and destined to supply a complete range of engines and transmissions to numerous brands all over the world. The Volvo division responsible for the production of petrol and diesel engines, already spun off from the Swedish brand, will merge into this joint venture. In this case, the horizon is aimed at markets other than Europe, where instead the determination towards zero-emission mobility leads to a second parallel strategy for Geely, that is to build a role as a manufacturer of platforms and powertrains for high-end electric vehicles . In essence, a ready-made technology platform to be shared with the continental brands it owns or already has relationships and shareholdings with. In 2016 Geely created the Lynk & Co brand, in 2017 it acquired 51% of the British Lotus, while since February 2018 its founder Li Shufu himself has purchased 9.69% of the shares of Mercedes, so as to become the first shareholder individual. In January 2020, Geely took over 50% of the Smart brand from Mercedes, with the intention of creating a range of cars with technical solutions widely shared with Volvo and Lynk&Co, as demonstrated by Smart #1.
electrifying collaborations
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It is no coincidence that Volvo’s electric acceleration therefore coincides more than legitimately with the already planned rationalization of the Mercedes range, with the prospect of seeing industrial relations between Stuttgart and Gothenburg further grow. The first Volvo model born exclusively with an electric motor is the maxi-size SUV EX90, expected for 2024, which will be followed by the battery-powered heirs of the XC90 and XC60 Sport Utilities, the S60 and S90 sedans, but above all the new EX30 which will debut in June, will be built in China and will use the new modular Sea platform (Sustainable Experience Architecture) signed by Geely, the very same one that already forms the basis of Smart#1 and will soon equip the new 003 media from the premium brand Zeekr, also in the Geely galaxy and ready for a quick landing in Europe. The Sea platform is highly modular, with a distance between the front and rear wheels that can go from 275 to 302 cm, and it is plausible to consider it an excellent basis for extensive industrial collaborations. And if the Cma multi-energy platform on which the Urban SUV XC40 rests has not been widely shared, the fate of the Spa 2 modular platform of Volvo origin will be different, ready to accommodate sedans and large battery-powered SUVs, with the EX90 doing only from as a starter.
February 02, 2023 – 2:53 pm
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