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From 2030 only with a plug: Volvo says goodbye to the combustion engine
Photo: Volvo Cars
With the Swedish brand Volvo, the next automaker is announcing the complete departure from the internal combustion engine.
From 2030, the company, which is part of the Chinese Geely Group, only wants to build and sell pure electric cars.
"There is no longer a long-term future for cars with internal combustion engines," said Volvo's Chief Technology Officer Henrik Green.
Volvo had already announced a long time ago that by the middle of the decade it wanted to increase the proportion of purely electric models to around half - the rest should then be hybrid drives.
According to the plans, however, these will no longer be part of the offer in 2030.
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This means that Volvo joins the growing number of car manufacturers who want to say goodbye to combustion engines completely.
US auto giant General Motors recently announced that it would only sell zero-emission cars from 2035 onwards.
The British car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover recently announced the prospect for its luxury brand Jaguar from the year 2025 that the brand should be »reinvented« in this way.
Club of dropouts is so far manageable
However, Volvo, Jaguar and General Motors have so far been an exception with their announcements.
Even German manufacturers have so far held back at specific times for a possible phasing out of gasoline, diesel and hybrid drives.
Almost four years ago, the Swedish manufacturer made headlines and said goodbye to the combustion engine.
At that time, however, a back door was left open by including so-called mild hybrids, which reduce consumption slightly, as electrified new cars.
This loophole is now closed, the company is "firmly determined to become a pure electric car manufacturer by 2030," said Chief Technology Officer Green.
Volvo Cars boss Hakan Samuelsson also wants to take a radical cut in sales.
In the future, the carmaker's all-electric cars will only be sold directly via the Internet.
The new all-electric XC40 Recharge Pure Electric for model year 2022 will only be available online.
Although the current trading model is facing a fundamental change, the contractual partners in the Volvo dealerships continue to play an important role, they remain contact points for customers.
The car manufacturer Volvo Cars, based in Gothenburg, has been separated from the Swedish commercial vehicle manufacturer Volvo AB for many years.
Volvo Cars is owned by the Chinese auto company Geely, which also has a stake in Volvo AB.
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ene / dpa
