Volvo cars to go electric-only and shift sales online from 2030

With the support of its Chinese owners, Volvo has ramped up investment in electric cars since 2017

Volvo Cars set an ambitious goal to only sell battery cars by 2030, accelerating its plans after sales of electric vehicles surged.

FILE - In this Feb. 6, 2020 file photo a Volvo car is parked behind the Volvo logo in the lobby of the company's corporate headquarters, in Brussels. Volvo says it will make only electric vehicles by 2030. But for those who want one, they will have to buy it online. The Swedish automaker said Tuesday, March 2, 2021, that it is phasing out the production of all cars with internal combustion engines — including hybrids. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)(AP)

The Chinese-owned Swedish brand is rolling out a new lineup of electric cars and will unveil its second battery-only model later Tuesday. Going one further than recent rivals’ decisions on EVs, Volvo’s electric vehicles will be available for sale only online, the company said in a statement.

“We choose to invest in the future -- electric and online,” Chief Executive Officer Hakan Samuelsson said. “We are fully focused on becoming a leader in the fast-growing premium electric segment.”

Volvo’s move follows rivals including Jaguar Land Rover, General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG announcing plans to electrify their offerings. In addition to tough emissions regulation, incredible valuations garnered by EV-only newcomers have been a wakeup call to accelerate the pace of change to survive industry upheaval.

The decision also comes days after Volvo and Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd., both owned by parent Zhejiang Geely Holding Co., dropped a plan to merge to instead deepen ties to quicken the pace of development. The pair will share vehicle platforms, software stacks and advanced connectivity, and will hive off their powertrain activities into a separate unit.

With the support of its Chinese owners, Volvo has ramped up investment in electric cars since 2017, when it first said it was planning to phase out vehicles that rely on combustion engines. Still, the company has only one fully electric model under its own brand name on the market, the compact crossover XC40 Recharge. In addition, Polestar, which is jointly owned by Volvo and Geely, launched its challenger to Tesla Inc.’s Model 3 in 2019.

Volvo has previously said it will plough roughly 5% of annual revenue into research and development, and that amount will be enough to finance the EV push, Samuelsson told reporters. The company sold more than 660,000 cars last year and reported full-year revenue of 263 billion Swedish kronor ($31.2 billion).

By 2025, Volvo expects half of the cars it sells to be fully electric and the other half to be hybrids, including so-called mild hybrids that don’t feature a plug. Volvo has been selling cars online as part of its Care by Volvo subscription offering in since 2016.

The Care by Volvo concept will now be expanded to include outright sales, with a package for maintenance, roadside assistance as well as insurance. All online purchases will be completed at a non-negotiable fixed price through Volvo’s own website, while dealers remain as part of the sales, service and delivery process, Volvo said.

“This is about building customer relationships together,” Samuelsson said. “We need to have a combination of face to face customer relationships” and “very powerful digital tools and care centers.”