Volvo Cars has announced plans to invest more than $1 billion (10 billion SEK) to improve fuel economy and reduce emissions. The auto manufacturer will establish a hybrid development center in Gothenburg, Sweden where a core of 20 engineers will develop product plans for environmentally-friendly cars. The team will also work closely with Ford, its U.S. counterpart in Detroit, Michigan.
This center will have overall responsibility for the application of hybrid systems into Volvo Cars vehicles globally as well as for ensuring Ford of Europe and brands from Ford’s Premier Automotive Group are able to apply core hybrid systems into their own product plans.
The center will be staffed initially by a mix of 20 leading engineers from both Volvo Cars and other brands from the Ford Motor Company group.
Part of a global initiative by Ford Motor Company to speed the introduction of more fuel-efficient vehicles, the new hybrid development center will build on the experience and expertise that Volvo Cars has built up over many years in developing advanced environmental technology systems, including some of the early hybrid systems, that eventually made their way into the world’s first hybrid SUV, the Ford Escape.
“We are very pleased that Ford Motor Company has decided to establish a development-center for hybrid technology in Gothenburg. This shows a strong belief in Volvo Cars and our ability to deliver results in future advanced technologies and underline the fact that Sweden has all the pre-requisites for research and development excellence” says Fredrik Arp, President and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation.
The center’s location will ensure that hybrid technology development at Ford Motor Company takes into account different market trends and customer preferences in regions around the world. While the new center will be located in Gothenburg, each brand within Ford European operations will be responsible for applying new technologies to their own product portfolios.
The team at the new hybrid center will also work closely with Ford’s hybrid development team in Detroit, Michigan, to ensure optimum global alignment and economies of scale.
“The hybrid cars of tomorrow will be more sophisticated and much further developed compared with what we see on the road today. And it is likely that we will find high-performance hybrids running on diesels and renewable fuels,” says Arp.
In a linked announcement, Volvo Cars announced the investment of 10 billion SEK in environmental research and development. The aim is to reduce the total fuel economy and tailpipe emissions of the global Volvo Cars fleet.
The investment initiative will focus primarily on the development and deployment of cleaner, more efficient diesel engines, hybrids and alternative fuel vehicles, the use of light, strong materials like magnesium, aluminium and lighter high-strength steel, and the introduction of smaller vehicles, while continuing to meet customer expectations for safety in Volvo Cars.
“Volvo Cars commitment to the environment is long-standing and well-recognised – it is part of what people know us for. With this significant investment we are ensuring that our tradition continues in the years to come and that Volvo customers’ green aspirations will be met,” added Fredrik Arp.
06/30, 6:31 PM
posted by:
JD
Good.
06/30, 6:49 PM
posted by:
Joel B
Very Good. A very positive step for Volvo. It will be interesting to see what they can achieve. Cars like the new C30 should be a great start.
06/30, 7:16 PM
posted by:
Skep Tical
Where is Ford, which is struggling with bankrupticy,badly selling cars and a tainted image taking the 1 billion dollars from? The idea is great, though I would suggest expanding the endeavor onto a more global level: Have young. bright engineers from all over join in on the development, as it is just as Henry Ford said: “I wanted bulletproof glass for the president´s car. The veteran designers and engineers deemed it impossible.So I went to the young engineers working in smaller factories, brought them together and asked them for the glass. I had it two weeks later.”
06/30, 7:25 PM
posted by:
ronaldo
interesting
06/30, 7:29 PM
posted by:
Phil
If Toyota or any of the Japanese companies were doing this, all you Japanese haters would be getting your panties in a bunch.
06/30, 8:43 PM
posted by:
Renton
Volvo’s suck. They are boring. Just get a BMW and get on with your life.
Oh yeah, one other thing… Get those Kerry stickers off the bumper.
06/30, 9:15 PM
posted by:
The Stig
Smart money.
06/30, 11:01 PM
posted by:
Stuart
boring car or old people. This will only interest my grandma
06/30, 11:01 PM
posted by:
Stuart
i mean for old people.
07/01, 12:08 AM
posted by:
Wickedated
Yeah, the new S80 is really sad. Volvo is waaay too conservative for any real competitive edge in the euro sedan marketplace. No real effort into making something truly scandinavian. The S40 was a big step forward, seems like the S80 was TOO conservative. Car companies need more ballsy designs, i mean, hate Bangle all you want, the time you see an M6 cruising by, your eyes will glued on that thing. I saw an M6 on that bronse/brown color they have with the silver interior and let me tell ya… makes every other car in the niche look outdated.
07/01, 8:15 AM
posted by:
Atomicbri
Now that would be sweet, a high performace, clean burning diesel matted to a hybrid…. think of the MPG possibilities!
07/01, 9:17 AM
posted by:
Madcapp
If Volvo has that kinda money, they ought to be able to hire someone who can design a decent looking car.
07/01, 10:20 AM
posted by:
Lou
Personally, I love the new volvo aesthetic. I guess that is why I bought an S40 T5. Yeah I would have loved a BMW 3, but my volvo was under 28, and the BMW I wanted was over 40.
I think that the new C30 and C70 look amazing. Difference of opinion, I don’t find a single American car to be even enticing (maybe the new Mustang GT), and in the 20-30 range I found very little across the board that is really something new.
07/01, 10:21 AM
posted by:
Lou
I also think Bangle has done wonders for BMW design.
07/01, 12:22 PM
posted by:
Anonymous
Swedes love to sit around and think – and then take 6wks off due to the stress.
j i m
07/01, 4:17 PM
posted by:
Madcapp
Yeah Lou the C30 is a great idea, and it looks good for a small hatchback too. The only problem is that for a few thousand more you could have a R32 which is just a superb vehicle with a beautiful interior, and comprehensively better than a C30. The C30 would have been a good idea when Honda quit making the CRX, C30 is a little late and a little bland.
07/02, 12:59 AM
posted by:
Lou
I love the R32, love the new Jetta and Passat, but unfortunately I can never own a Volkswagen again solely because of my past service nightmares.
07/02, 1:36 PM
posted by:
Wood
The new convertible C70 should be renamed a C-40. No way you can put 4 people in that car !
Two adults & two children struggle to get in that car.
Volvo would have been better bringing the car out as a 2 seater.
Only 1 choice of Engine? for a 40,000 vehicle? Come on Ford everybody is Not going to settle for a Turbo 4 cyclinder with only 218 bhp. Should have kept the option to go to the 242bhp engine.
Ford made the SAME MISTAKE with the Jaguar S class by bringing out to little a bhp engine, then when it wouldn’t sell they upped the hp.
When they truly bring out a S-80 class convertible
that is a 2 saeter to compete with Mercedes then Volvo won’t be a 2nd class car company. Then they could truly name is a C-70 or 80 as it is now, the name is a misnomer. It is likely to drive up the sales of the CLK once people see how much $$$ they are asking.
07/02, 1:42 PM
posted by:
Wood
Could see Volvo coming out with an ALL electric car or a Natural gas model.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSBykAngDpY
Some one needs to answer the question why the Electric Car got killed.
Some say the big 3 automakers had a hand in it.
07/02, 1:52 PM
posted by:
Trent
One more thing, Car companies don’t just sell cars, they ALSO SELL PARTS.
Parts & Labor are the MAJORITY of the INCOME of the dealers that represent these auto’s.
THe electric vehicle may have been sandbagged because GM, Ford, Chrysler wouldn’t have been able to sell parts , it would force them to sell batteries and Tires.
Not exactly profitable lines for them. It is all about money, big money. The drug companies do it too.
Have you noticed that in the last 40 years drug companies haven’t found a cure for ANY DISEASE? That’s because they make more money on selling drugs that help you MAINTAIN a condition.
If they had drugs to cure diabetes or Cancer or High blood pressure nobody would come to them for repeat drugs.
Once they cured polio, what else have they cured?
07/02, 7:01 PM
posted by:
British_Rover
well they made a vacine for small pox too.
07/05, 7:47 PM
posted by:
Zach
In response to Wood: Volvo did such a poor job on the C70 that in June C70 sales are up over 200% over last year and there is an 8 month wait to own one. They’re selling faster than they can be built so Volvo must have done something right.