Volvo Promises Five New Products Despite 2025 Trade ChallengeVolvo Promises Five New Products Despite 2025 Trade Challenge

Volvo Cars will launch five new models from this year despite predicting that the automotive industry will collectively face a flat or even declining market in 2025.

The challenging year already comes on the back of Volvo reporting a fall in profits for the final quarter of 2024.

Nevertheless, the automaker will launch its first midsize battery-electric vehicle, the EX60, the first to use its new generation SPA3 all-electric vehicle platform. The car is already undergoing road tests and is expected to come to global markets in 2026. It will also launch a new long-range plug-in hybrid model targeting the growing consumer demand for this powertrain in China.

Two as-yet unidentified models in its lineup will be extensively upgraded refreshed editions while a new flagship BEV sedan, the ES90, will join its range boasting the latest technological suite the automaker can provide.

However, CEO Jim Rowan warns the whole automotive industry is currently caught in a downturn that will see this year present serious challenges.

During a presentation of 2024 full-year financial results, he says: “We believe 2025 will be a very challenging year for the industry as a whole and also for Volvo Cars. The global car industry faces multiple uncertainties.

“The motor industry is a cyclical industry and we are experiencing a cyclical downturn and we are expecting weak demand owing to the micro economic challenges we face.

“We are also seeing major structural reorientation in China with a very competitive car industry as many domestic brands increase their market share at the expense of some of the global brands. This dynamic of hyper competition in China will continue to play out globally as well.

“Geopolitical headwinds are expected to further create uncertainty in 2025 – trade tariffs, regulatory headwinds and reduced incentives are all likely to weigh on demand and on the conditions that companies need to operate.

“At the same time when demand remains soft, there’s also a transformational challenge the industry has to contend with: the investments in BEV and the transition to a software defined vehicle for many of the OEMs.”

In spite of these issues, Volvo plans to double-down on its product offering as a way of future-proofing the brand. Rowan adds: “In terms of profits, we will launch five new or refreshed products to strengthen our balanced portfolio. We will expand our EX30 lineup with a cross-country gain, we are gearing up to launch the fully electric ES90 which will be one of our flagship models and will once again illustrate Volvo Cars technologies.

“We will also introduce a new long-range PHEV dedicated for the China market and, at the same time, we will also continue to update our existing lineup of cars with meaningful upgrades and we will do this for two additional cars in the lineup.

“We will start producing EX30 at our Ghent factory in Belgium in the first half of this year and reach full production by the second half. It will reduce costs and help maintain our competitive position in this core space within the industry.

“At the same time, we will ramp up production of our EX90 at our Charleston (SC) facility and we will also start production of that car at our Chengdu facility in China.”

In conclusion, Rowan stresses that Volvo’s forward strategy is one of investment for the future while maintaining a healthy cashflow balance to fund the present.

He explains: “The whole automotive industry will be severely tested this year but we, Volvo Cars, must keep our eyes on the road ahead and not sacrifice our future on the altar of the present.

“Therefore, we will continue to work at speed towards our SPA3 launch which will unlock further cost efficiencies and improve performance. We have already built and driven the first car of the EX60 on SPA3 and we are gearing up to bring this to the world in 2026.”