Volvo Cars will establish a tech hub in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, as it seeks to reach its goal to sell at least half of its cars online and develop at least half of all software in-house.
Volvo Cars in a news statement said it would expand its presence in Stockholm for creating a workspace for more than 700 professionals skilled in software engineering, data science and analytics, product management, online business and user experience.
The tech hub is an expansion of Volvo Cars’ current downtown Stockholm location and will build on the company’s competence in online sales and software product development, which are key focus areas for the company in its ongoing transformation.
The expansion will support Volvo Cars’ strong growth, as well as its mid-decade ambitions to sell at least half of all its cars online and to develop at least half of all software in-house.
Volvo Cars aims to attract hundreds of new team members from all over the world to its tech hub. As the home and birthplace of several globally successful billion-dollar tech companies, Stockholm has an international appeal to the global tech scene.
Hanna Fager, head of corporate functions at Volvo Cars, said: “Stockholm is a hot spot for tech talents, and we want to create an innovative, creative and collaborative workplace to attract people from around the world. The process has already started and we’re currently looking for new team members who can help drive our company forward.”
Volvo Cars’ move towards online sales is integral to its aim of becoming a leader in the electric segment with millions of direct consumer relationships. The focus on online sales and direct relationships includes creating a simplified and straightforward process for ordering a Volvo car, with transparent pricing, clear product information and clarity on delivery times.
“Beyond making our cars safer through technology and more sustainable through electrification, we want to fundamentally change car ownership to be more personal through a world-leading consumer experience,” said Henrik Green, chief product officer at Volvo Cars. “That’s why we are investing in product and tech.”
Volvo Cars is taking its software development in-house, both to reach its online aims and because cars are increasingly defined by software rather than traditional automotive attributes. The company is also centralising computing inside its fully electric cars into a powerful core system. This will support Volvo Cars to introduce new software and features to customer cars via over-the-air updates, making them better and even more enjoyable over time.
Volvo Car Group recorded an operating profit of 20.3 BSEK. Revenue in 2021 amounted to 282.0 BSEK, while global sales reached 698,700 cars.
