Volvo has announced that it will stop selling gasoline-powered cars and phase out its dealership chain by 2030.
This is a swift change compared to other automakers, but it shows the Swedish car company’s commitment to electric vehicles (EVs). What’s more interesting than this push into the EV space is that Volvo will follow in Tesla’s footsteps and get begin to sell more cars online.
This is a faster transition than giant automakers like GM and Ford. Still, the roughly ten-year transition is in line with other smaller premium car manufacturers like Jaguar, which plans to be all-electric by 2025.
Volvo isn’t expanding its ambitions as an automaker and is still aiming to sell cars in the premium electric market segment.
“To remain successful, we need profitable growth. So instead of investing in a shrinking business, we choose to invest in the future — electric and online,” said Håkan Samuelsson, chief executive in a press release. “We are fully focused on becoming a leader in the fast-growing premium electric segment.”
To follow this up, the company announced a new EV called the C40 Recharge. Like the XC40 Recharge, the C40 Recharge is a smaller crossover-styled design built on the same modular battery platform. While it looks similar to the XC40, this car is notable because it was the first Volvo designed and released as only an EV.
This means that the C40 should have a similar range to the XC40, but Volvo hasn’t shared the price of the new car yet. This means it can get around 420km of range. If you’re interested in the C40, check out our hands-on with the XC40.
The new car is also going to the same android Automotive infotainment console in the XC40 Recharge.
Update 03/03/2021: Volvo Canada has reached out to clarify that Canadians will still be able to buy fully electric Volvo’s in stores if they wish and that the dealer network is still going to be utilized to help with deliveries and servicing if a customer does buy a Volvo online. Online sales will begin in Q4 2021 in Canada.
The article has been updated to reflect those changes.
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