Visitors view Volvo cars during the 37th Thailand International Motor Expo 2020 in Bangkok, Thailand, Dec. 13, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Keren)
By 2030, the company intends to only sell fully electric cars and phase out any car in its global portfolio with an internal combustion engine, including hybrids, the automaker said in a press release.
"Instead of investing in a shrinking business, we choose to invest in the future -- electric and online," said Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson.
STOCKHOLM, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Volvo Cars aims to go fully electric by 2030, and all models will only be available online, the multinational automaker announced on Tuesday.
By 2030, the company intends to only sell fully electric cars and phase out any car in its global portfolio with an internal combustion engine, including hybrids, the automaker said in a press release.
"So instead of investing in a shrinking business, we choose to invest in the future -- electric and online," said Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson in the release. "We are fully focused on becoming a leader in the fast-growing premium electric segment."
Photo taken on Nov. 5, 2020 shows a Volvo XC90 vehicle at the Automobile exhibition area during the third China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua/Zhao Dingzhe)
The company's chief technology officer Henrik Green said: "There is no long-term future for cars with an internal combustion engine."
Volvo Cars launched its first fully electric car, the XC40 Recharge, last year. And this new electrification strategy was announced only hours before the company is to present its second battery-electric model.
In the coming years, Volvo Cars will roll out several additional electric models, with more to follow. By 2025, the automaker aims for 50 percent of its global sales to consist of fully electric cars, with the rest hybrids. By 2030, every car it sells should be fully electric, it said.
Volvo Cars, acquired by Chinese automaker Geely in 2010, employed an average of 36,278 people globally during the first six months of 2020.
Headquartered in the major Swedish city of Gothenburg, Volvo Cars has main car production plants in Gothenburg, Ghent (Belgium), South Carolina (the U.S.), Chengdu and Daqing (China), while engines are manufactured in Skovde (Sweden) and Zhangjiakou (China) and body components in Olofstrom (Sweden). 
File photo taken on July 4, 2019 shows that the China Railway Express (Chang'an) ferrying 190 Chinese-made Volvo XC60 vehicles arrives at the Port of Ghent in Belgium. This is the first time Chinese-made Volvo cars were exported to Europe via China Railway Express. (Xinhua/Pan Geping)■
