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On November 8, 2022, Volvo announced that its strategic direction is to achieve full electrification by 2030 and shape the future of mobile travel. To this end, Volvo will divest its 33 per cent stake in Aurobay to Geely Holdings, pointing out that the divestment is another important step in Volvo's transformation into an all-electric carmaker, making Volvo the first carmaker to withdraw completely from the development and manufacture of internal combustion engines. In the future, Volvo will focus its investment and capital allocation on the development of high-performance all-electric power systems.

According to the Tramway report, Volvo announced on July 8, 2021 that it and parent company Geely Holdings had agreed to create a joint venture called Aurobay for the powertrain business. According to the plan, Volvo will transfer all the assets of its wholly-owned subsidiary Powertrain Engineering Sweden to Aurobay, including the engine plant in Schaefder, Sweden, including the research and development team, the engine plant in China and other related assets. The new company will become a global provider of complete powertrain solutions, including next-generation internal combustion engines, gearboxes and hybrid solutions. It is worth noting that in addition to continuing to supply goods to both parties, the company also provides products and services to third-party car companies.

On the spin-off, Johan Ekdahl, chief financial officer of Volvo, said: "the auto industry is undergoing rapid change and Volvo is committed to leading this transformation. As we continue to implement our strategy, such a deal will be an important complement to our future investments and partnerships. "

So far, the details of the divestiture transaction have not been announced, but the divestiture proceeds will be used to develop high-performance, pure electric systems. If regulatory approval is obtained, the deal is expected to be completed by the end of 2022. Aurobay remains Volvo's strategic partner and the only supplier of hybrid and medium hybrid assemblies during the transition period, Volvo said.

From all sorts of signs, Volvo's move may be for an all-electric strategy, or it may be to obey the overall situation of the deal between Geely and Renault.

In 2021, Volvo announced a rather radical plan. Volvo says its pure electric models will account for 50 per cent of total sales by 2025, with the rest in hybrid models. By 2030, Volvo will transform into a pure electric brand, when it will sell only pure electric cars, eliminating all cars with internal combustion engines around the world. By 204, Volvo strives to become a climate zero-load benchmark, and all pure electric models will be sold online only.

The electrification transformation is considered an important part of Volvo's sustainable strategy, which means that cars powered by internal combustion engines will be completely removed from its product catalog, including hybrid vehicles. In the future, Volvo's product lineup will be made up of 100% pure electric models. "to maintain our market leadership, we must invest more in electrified models and new business models," said H å Samuelson, president and chief executive of Volvo Automotive Group. Volvo is committed to becoming the market leader in the luxury brand pure electricity segment. However, if Volvo strictly follows the plan, it will have only 10 years left for Volvo.

In the Chinese market, as one of the first traditional luxury brands to start electrification transformation, it is the first to realize the electrification of the whole series of models. According to the official website, Volvo currently implements four domestic models in China, including S90, S60, XC60 and XC40, of which S90, S60 and XC60 launch plug-in hybrid models on the basis of fuel vehicles, while XC40 launches pure electric models on the basis of fuel vehicles. Of course, Volvo electric cars perform poorly in the Chinese market. Take September sales as an example, the highest sales volume is XC60 RECHARGE, with 340 vehicles, followed by S90 RECHARGE with 252 vehicles, followed by C40 RECHARGE with 151vehicles, and other models with less than 100 vehicles.

In addition to for itself, Volvo is to promote the cooperation between Geely and Renault. At the beginning of this year, Renault announced the split of the fuel vehicle business and the electric vehicle business in order to promote the electric transformation. According to previous reports, the divested electric vehicle business will be named Ampere, will be headquartered in France, will be valued at about 10 billion euros (71.578 billion yuan), and plans to list IPO in the second half of 2023. The fuel vehicle business, which will be named Horse, will be headquartered outside France and will bring in Geely as a partner to integrate its fuel vehicle and hybrid businesses to form a 50:50 joint venture.

On the day Volvo announced that it would divest its stake in Aurobay to Geely Holdings, the deal between Geely and Renault finally came to fruition. On Nov. 8, Geely and Renault announced on their website that Geely Holdings, Geely Motor (hereinafter collectively "Geely") and Renaults.a.s. Sign a non-binding framework agreement proposing the establishment of a joint venture company in which Geely and Renault will each own 50 per cent of the new company. The new joint venture company will become an independent global provider of powertrain solutions, produce next-generation hybrid systems and develop low-carbon and low-emission technologies through five global R & D centers, the announcement said. At the time of launch, the new company is expected to provide products to Renault and Geely brands, including Renault, Dacia, Geely, Volvo, Lecker, Proton, as well as Nissan and Mitsubishi. In the future, the new company can also provide powertrain technology to third-party brands.

For Volvo, whether it is active or passive, whether it is self-sacrifice or human nature, it is finally a step forward towards electrification. Volvo's global sales rose 7 per cent year-on-year to 54000 vehicles in October, with pure electricity accounting for 15 per cent, according to the latest figures. Volvo's global sales in the first 10 months fell 17 per cent year-on-year to 483000, with pure electricity accounting for 8 per cent.

Qin Peiji, president of Volvo Greater China sales company, said that the current pace of electrification is in line with expectations, but the Chinese market is changing faster. Some analysts point out that Volvo may launch electric cars on the market at the pace of at least one new car a year by 2025. Volvo has registered trademarks for various names, such as XC10 and XC20. On November 9, Volvo EX90 officially launched worldwide, and the new car, as a "90" series model, will assume the name of "flagship".

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