Volvo Cars and Veoneer, the automotive safety equipment company, have completed the process of dividing up Zenuity, the 50-50 joint venture focused on the development of assisted and autonomous driving software.
On 2 April, Volvo Cars and Veoneer announced an intention to divide Zenuity, in order for each company to focus more effectively on their respective strategies.
Volvo Cars’ part of Zenuity will be transferred to a new stand-alone company, wholly owned by Volvo Cars. It will initially focus on the development of technology for Volvo Cars’ next-generation modular scalable architecture (SPA 2) that could over time fundamentally change road safety, including autonomous-drive technology for motorways in the Highway Pilot.
The company will build upon and further develop the strong software platform for advanced driver-assistance and autonomous-driving systems developed by Zenuity in recent years.
The new company will continue acting independently within the Volvo Car Group. As part of the agreement, Zenuity’s operations and people based in Gothenburg, Sweden, and Shanghai, China, have been transferred to the new company.
The other part of Zenuity will be integrated into Veoneer and will focus on the continued development and commercialisation of advanced driver assistance.
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Volvo Car Group in 2019
For the 2019 financial year, Volvo Car Group recorded an operating profit of 14.3 BSEK (14.2 BSEK in 2018). Revenue over the period amounted to 274.1 BSEK (252.7 BSEK). For the full year 2019, global sales reached a record 705,452 (642,253) cars, an increase of 9.8 per cent versus 2018. The results underline the comprehensive transformation of Volvo Cars’ finances and operations in recent years, positioning the company for its next growth phase.
About Volvo Car Group
Volvo Cars was founded in 1927. Today, it is one of the most well-known and respected premium car brands in the world, with sales of 705,452 cars in 2019 in about 100 countries. Volvo Cars has been under the ownership of the Zhejiang Geely Holding since 2010.
In 2019, Volvo Cars employed on average approximately 41,500 (41,500) full-time employees. Volvo Cars’ head office, product development, marketing and administration functions are mainly located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Cars’ head office for APAC is located in Shanghai. The company’s main car production plants are located in Gothenburg (Sweden), Ghent (Belgium), South Carolina (US), Chengdu and Daqing (China), while engines are manufactured in Skövde (Sweden) and Zhangjiakou (China), and body components in Olofström (Sweden).
Under its new company purpose, Volvo Cars aims to provide customers with the Freedom to Move in a personal, sustainable and safe way. This purpose is reflected in a number of business ambitions: for example, by the middle of this decade it aims for half of its global sales to be fully electric cars and to establish five million direct consumer relationships. Volvo Cars is also committed to an ongoing reduction of its carbon footprint, with the ambition to be a climate-neutral company by 2040.
