Volvo Cars aims to transform retail business with integrated online/offline consumer experience
Volvo Cars is fundamentally modernising and upgrading the way its customers buy, lease, subscribe to and service their cars as it works towards its ambition to sell 50 per cent of its global volume online by 2025.
The company has today announced its acquisition of Upplands Motor, the Stockholm-based dealership (subject to regulatory approvals), and a planned full takeover of the retailer Bra Bil, with the aim to merge the two operations with Volvo Bil, its own dealership.
The merged operation will enable Volvo Cars to pilot a technology-led transformation of its retail operations in its home market. Its strategy is to create a seamless online/offline experience, together with its retail partners, globally. This merged operation will enable Volvo Cars to fully utilise the strong home market to gain knowledge and develop the future business model.
Volvo Cars believes customers want the same kind of modern, hassle-free retail experience when buying or servicing their car that they enjoy elsewhere. The traditional retail system has served customers well for decades but as the leading automotive brand in Sweden, Volvo now needs to transform to meet future consumer demands head on.
Volvo customers will soon be able to move with ease between online and offline, allowing them to save time and money by undertaking much of the buying process online, while maintaining the ability to visit a retailer in person as and when necessary.
“This is about changing together. The physical retailer and the opportunity for consumers to engage with dedicated, enthusiastic and qualified Volvo personnel remains crucial to our future. We are committed to improving customers’ experiences by working closely - together - with our retail partners,” said Björn Annwall, head of the EMEA region at Volvo Cars.
“As the world around us changes rapidly, and consumers interact with the Volvo brand in even more ways, we need to make sure that every interaction adds to their total Volvo experience,” says Lex Kerssemakers, head of commercial operations at Volvo Cars.
“This is key to our commercial transformation and why we focus on a seamless interaction between online and offline. Today’s investment is another milestone as we create a modern, personalised customer experience together with our retailers.”
Notes to editors
The acquisition excludes Upplands Motor’s Mercedes-Benz business, which will remain with its current owners.
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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 into 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.