Volvo makes huge electric car announcement

A premium car maker is getting ready to totally revolutionise its entire line-up as it makes a huge call on its future Down Under.

Volvo will only sell electric cars in Australia from 2026.

The brand is looking to capitalise on a groundswell of consumer interest in zero emissions vehicles and grow its prestige market share.

This is undercutting its Swedish headquarters’ plan to go all EV by 2030.

Volvo Australia managing director Stephen Connor says the time is right to make the electric switch.

Volvo has just launched its new C40 Recharge electric SUV in Australia.

“We see an opportunity in our marketplace today – I think our consumers are ready for this,” said Connor, highlighting the staggering sales growth of Tesla as part of the reason.

“They’ve revolutionised the way we think, they’ve done all the heavy lifting,” says Connor of Tesla, the EV-only brand that accounts for most of the EVs sold in Australia. “We’re going to piggyback off the back of the good work that they’ve done.”

Volvo says it will not bring any new vehicles powered by petrol or diesel, farewelling the existing model line-up over the next few years as it introduces a new EV every 12 months.

The XC60 mid-sized will be the last Volvo sold here with an internal combustion engine (ICE), something that could happen late in 2025 or during 2026 at the latest.

Connor believes the EV switch will pay dividends, leaving some rivals in the rear vision mirror.

The Chinese-owned Swedish brand will only sell electric cars by 2026 in Australia.

“I think the market will be really crowded by 2030,” he says. “The acceleration of change is happening so fast, it will only get faster. The ones that are still tinkering with diesel, all the old ICE cars, I think they’re the manufacturers that will be really struggling.”

Connor believes some brands had misread the fast-shifting currents of the new-car market, which in two years have seen EVs grow from being a niche to be part of the mainstream, albeit predominantly from Tesla.

“If you don’t understand consumer sentiment you will get lost and left behind, which is why we’re going early,” he says.

Key to the imminent EV switch is a plan to significantly boost the brand’s market share and cement Volvo as an electric car rival to the likes of Tesla and its sibling brand Polestar.

“I’m planning that 2026 we will sell 20,000 units, 2 per cent market share and be fully electric,” says Connor.

The Volvo XC60 will the maker’s last petrol-powered vehicle sold in Australia.

If the 20,000-vehicle sales goal is achieved, it would represent more than a doubling of sales against the brand’s 2021 tally of 9028 vehicles.

It could also slingshot Volvo past Audi, which has traditionally held third place in the Australian premium brand sales race behind Mercedes-Benz and BMW (there’s also a strong chance Tesla could overtake them both).

Volvo’s EV sales rush kicks off next year, with plans to sell at least 5000 of its XC40 and C40 EVs. The XC40 Pure Electric could be the brand’s top selling model in 2023.

While many brands have struggled to convince their head offices to divert large volumes of electric cars to Australia due to a lack of local CO2 regulations – they include Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen and Ford – Volvo says its Swedish head office has been supportive and plans to ramp up supply significantly.

Accompanying the imminent EV switch is a plan to equip every Volvo dealership with a fast charging outlet that would be free to customers.

“Next year we will make sure that every one of our retailers has a fast charger … which will be free to every customer.”

Connor says the move will help boost interaction between its customers and dealers in an era when longer EV service intervals threaten to reduce that.