Volvo Vehicles is “making good progress” towards a possible preliminary public providing by the tip of this yr, CEO Hakan Samuelsson informed Reuters.
“We’re the potential for doing an IPO earlier than the tip of the yr,” itemizing shares on the Nasdaq Stockholm trade, Samuelsson stated in an interview on Wednesday.
Samuelsson and different Volvo executives on Wednesday laid out an extensive road map to turning into a totally electric-car maker by 2030, together with plans to promote 600,000 electrical automobiles at mid-decade and construct a European battery gigafactory in 2026.
Volvo earlier this yr scrapped a proposed merger with the corporate’s Chinese language mother or father, Hong Kong-listed Geely Vehicle. In March, Geely stated Volvo would discover capital market choices, together with an preliminary public providing and inventory market itemizing.
Plenty of startups have gone public in the US and China over the previous two years, following EV market chief Tesla in profiting from investor enthusiasm to lift low-cost capital to compete with established manufacturers comparable to Volvo.
Samuelsson stated Volvo and Geely will proceed to share automobile architectures, combustion powertrains and different elements. However the firms will accomplish that at “an arm’s size distance,” in line with the best way unbiased firms do enterprise, he stated.
Throughout Wednesday’s briefing, Volvo additionally stated it plans to equip lots of its future automobiles with self-driving expertise, together with customary lidar sensors from Luminar Applied sciences and computer systems from Nvidia.
“Our objective is to construct the most secure vehicles potential, utilizing all accessible expertise,” Samuelsson stated.
Because it launches new EVs, Volvo additionally plans a slew of associated merchandise, together with insurance coverage and vehicle subscription payment plans provided immediately by the automaker, Samuelsson stated.
“The entire automobile enterprise will likely be recurring income,” Samuelsson stated.
In Europe, the corporate plans to vary its retail operations in order that clients order new EVs immediately from the producer, with sellers paid commissions to ship them, Samuelsson stated. Within the U.S., the place legal guidelines defend present sellers, Volvo will nonetheless promote automobiles by means of franchised retailers.
For its future EVs, Volvo is working with Swedish partner Northvolt on a brand new era of batteries with increased vitality and designed to be packaged as a structural aspect of the automobile. The brand new batteries, due after 2025, will allow an extended driving vary between expenses – as much as 1000 km (625 miles) – and far sooner charging instances.
Volvo and Northvolt are planning to construct a European battery plant in 2026 with 50-gigawatt hours manufacturing capability – sufficient to produce 500,000 automobiles or extra, relying on battery dimension. Compared, Tesla’s Nevada gigafactory has 35 gWh capability.
Samuelsson stated Volvo will unveil the primary of its new-generation EVs subsequent yr, a flagship SUV that can share its platform with extra fashions to observe.