Volvo announces departure from ACEA at the end of 2022 due to strategic disagreements

Written by Cláudio Afonso | [email protected] | LinkedIn | Twitter

Less than a month after Stellantis Group announced the departure from ACEA, also Volvo informed on Friday it will leave the European Automobile Manufacturers Association by the year end. The automaker Volvo said its sustainability strategy and ambitions “are not fully aligned with ACEA’s positioning and way of working at this stage.”

The announcement was made at a time when ACEA failed in its lobbying efforts to push back the European Union’s intention to phase out cars with internal combustion engines.

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“We therefore believe it is better to take a different path for now. What we do as a sector will play a major role in deciding whether the world has a fighting chance to curb climate change,” Volvo said.

In June, the automaker delivered 49,904 vehicles — down 26.9 per cent from 2021 — with the sales of recharge models (BEV + PHEV) in Europe accounting for 33.8 per during the month. The company said that 25.1 percent of the sales in the U.S. were Recharge models (PHEVs and EVs) and in California, the recharge market share reached 75 per cent.

As a whole, the Volvo Car Americas region saw 10,309 cars sold during the month. Sales of Recharge models accounted for 27.9 percent of sales across the region.

“Demand for our cars remains strong but inventory challenges continue,” said Anders Gustafsson, President, and CEO of Volvo Car USA.

Last week, the automaker announced that will build its third European plant in Kosice, Slovakia. The construction of the $1.25B factory is planned to start in 2023, with equipment and production lines installed during 2024 and the series production in 2026. The facility is designed to produce up to 250,000 cars per year and allows for further expansion of the plant in the future, the automaker said.

Recently, Volvo unveiled a partnership with Epic Games to offer its customers photorealistic visualization technology in the next-generation Volvo cars. According to the official note, the companies are teaming up to bring Epic’s Unreal Engine game engine into upcoming Volvo cars, providing “unparalleled high-quality graphics inside the cabin”.

Written by Cláudio Afonso | [email protected] | LinkedIn | Twitter