Volvo makes Chinese commitment

Volvo Cars will build its first fully electric car in China.

The all-new model will be based on Volvo’s Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) for smaller cars, and will be available for sale in 2019 and exported globally.

The decision to make its first electric car in China highlights the central role China will play in Volvo’s electrified future and underlines China’s growing sophistication as a manufacturing centre for the automotive industry.

Håkan Samuelsson, chief executive of Volvo Cars, ‘Volvo Cars fully supports the Chinese government’s call for cleaner air as outlined in the latest five-year plan. It is fully in-line with our own core values of environmental care, quality and safety. We believe that electrification is the answer to sustainable mobility.’

Volvo has a commitment to sell a total of 1m electrified cars – including fully electric cars and hybrids – by 2025. It has three manufacturing facilities in China, in Daqing, which makes its 90 series cars, Chengdu, which makes its 60 series cars and Luqiao, which will make its 40 series cars.