VOLVO CARS announced at the Shanghai Auto Show that it will build its first fully-electric car in China. The all-new model – based on Volvo's new Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) for smaller cars – will be available for sale in 2019 and will be exported around the globe from China.

The decision to make its first electric car in China not only highlights the central role China will play in Volvo's electrified future, but underlines China's growing sophistication as a manufacturing centre for the automotive industry.

Largest Electric Car Market

"Volvo Cars fully supports the Chinese government's call for cleaner air as outlined in the latest five-year plan. It is fully in-line with our own core values of environmental care, quality and safety," says Håkan Samuelsson, chief executive officer of Volvo Cars.

"We believe that electrification is the answer to sustainable mobility," he adds.

​China is the world's largest sales market for electrified cars and has ambitious targets to expand sales of fully electric and hybrid cars in order to address congestion and air quality issues in its cities.

Fully Electric Car

Volvo has a commitment to sell a total of one million electrified cars - including fully-electric cars and hybrids - by 2025. It is also developing a fully electric car on its larger Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) platform. The Swedish company also plans to offer plug-in hybrid versions of every model in its portfolio.

Volvo has three manufacturing facilities in China at present: Daqing, where 90 cluster cars are produced, Chengdu, where 60 cluster cars are built, and Luqiao, which will produce the new 40 cluster cars.

​Volvo's 90th Birthday

In other Volvo news: Volvo Cars is celebrating its 90th birthday with start of production of the all-new Volvo XC60 in Gothenburg, Sweden. The all-new XC60 will leave the factory 90 years to the month after the first-ever Volvo, the ÖV4, saw the light of day on April 14th 1927.

The all-new XC60 is one of the safest cars ever made and offers the latest in safety technology, including the new Oncoming Lane Mitigation system which uses the new Steer Assist function to help mitigate head-on collisions. Volvo's semi-autonomous driver assistance system, Pilot Assist, which takes care of steering, acceleration and braking on well-marked roads up to 130 km/h, is available in the all-new XC60 as an option.

The new medium SUV's South African introduction is set for the second quarter of 2018.