It's around 83% Chinese owned and most EVs are being made in China with Chinese batteries so yes mostly Chinese. They have taken the best from Sweden - design, driving dynamics and added their strengths -batteries, platform, synergies with Smart, Zeekr. Geely is very clever.
Indeed, production sites and the origin of parts and funds are only one facet of what a company truly is (its financial operations and logistics). Let's not forget the key people in the company who make the main decisions about the vehicles and who design them, where they come from and where they are based now, i.e. who exactly insufflate the real soul in the final product, wherever it is made and whoever funds it: Volvo: CEO Jim Rowan (UK); Head of Design Jeremy Offer (UK), Gothenburg, SE. Polestar: CEO Thomas Ingenlath (SE); Head of Design Maximilian Missoni (DE), Gothenburg, SE.
They are clever. But.... . Quality of new Volvo's is awful. They have a very poor paintjob, the rust (bottom) and reliability, fit and finish is poor. The cars are developed for business lease only, 5 or 6 years max.
If you don’t know, following cars are partly developed in Sweden since Geely stepped in: Volvo, Polestar, Zeekr, Lync & Co, Lotus, London taxi Smart and probably soon Aston Martin. Nio have Swedish head of designer. Mercedes has a swede in control and Mercedes is now owned by Geelys owner by 10% and chineese BAIC by 10%. Volvo have just had a gigacasting machine installed in Sweden and are building a large battery fabric.
Well, I happen to work for a tier one supplier of various OEMs and from our perspective, it's Chinese, because in the end all purchasing decisions are made in China, favouring Chinese suppliers. And this affects the design and technical decisions as well.
As a Swede I see Volvo as a Chinese/Swedish company. Things don't have to be binary, one or the other. Most of the design work and technical development is still done in Sweden, except the base platform. Manufacturing is mostly done in China but that is true for many other things too, like iPhones.
What exactly is done in Sweden? Tech and platform developed in china, manufactured in china, batteries from there as well, software is from Google, owned by Geely. They tweak how it looks a bit in Sweden? Europe made a gigantic, and very obvious even at the time, mistake giving all of our technology, manufacturing, even IP away to China.
@universalmirage1208 it's not a solution for anything, other than pleasing some short sighted bean counters. The company will be gutted, all the know-how stolen until there's only a symbolic presence left in Sweden to trick people into thinking they are buying a Swedish product. The EU can very much maintain a complete car manufacturing supply chain without China if it wishes.
@@harmony3138 and what might be the difference between your examples and volvo I wonder... Maybe that in addition to ownership, manufacturing engineering and r&d are also done in China.
Volvo is currently building a major battery manufacturing plant in Gothenburg, Sweden. Which may indicate that when ICE production is over in Gothenburg, it may be replaced by EV production there.
Sorry to say Volvo is now a Chinese company like MG. However the heritage of Volvo will always be Sweden. The only reason they still make some gasoline cars in Sweden is because of conditions of the sale agreement.
@@JappaKneads Trouble I see, this is like batteries, now China make like 75% world wide batteries. The communist or now the dictator there in China (I say this because now Xi do the same as putin, he is forced his way to a third mandate). Decide to punish any Democratic country, he will be able to do since soon all the car will be made in China only, or essential parts if this continue.
People will still see Volvo as Swedish even if it's Chinese owned, for the same reason that most people still see Budweiser as American even though it's Belgian owned.
@mongo64071 not so. Volvo do the majority of the design and r/d in Sweden for Geely. Geely basically do the manufacturing process. Geely purchased Volvo for their technology, brand loyalty and market awareness.
@@robertfonovic3551 Where have you read this? - all reports I have seen suggest that the SEA platform was developed by Geely and the full name is the Geely Sustainable Experience Architecture. It was developed by Geely - possibly with the assistance of the Volvo engineering team as a modification to the their previous PMA platform. I haven't seen any Volvo executives claiming credit for the platform which would seem a little unusual if they had indeed had the majority of input.
Volvo Group of Sweden sold its Volvo Car Division to Ford, who floundered with it, and then sold it to Geely, a Chinese company, who then became the parent company of Volvo Car Division just as Volvo Group and Ford had been. Unless Geely transfers all of the Volvo Car Division company operations from Sweden to China, and sells all of Volvo Car Division assets in Sweden, it will still be a Swedish company just as any other Swedish company with foreign ownership. Volvo Group is still going strong with its trucking, heavy manufacturing, and other services.
Volvo is ultimately 100% owned by Geely - Apple manufacture in China, India and Vietnam but I don't know of anyone who would suggest Apple is anything but a US company. I think it's fairer to describe Volvo as a foreign design and manufacturing subsidiary of a Chinese company.
My assumption would be, its ICE technology and most of its safety is still swedish/volvo.. But the EV tech, the newer platforms are Geely/ Chinese.. And they just share techs, making thier products exceptional.
Ehm, the production facility in Gothenburg (the Swedish headquarters) is undergoing modernization right now with megacasting and the building of an enormous battery factory. The plans are stretched well beyond 2030 with a production capacity, in Sweden, of around a third of the cars sold. Design, development (of most models) and most corporate functions are still in Sweden, and there are virtually no plans to change that. The smaller cars with a tighter budget is co-developed with other brands and that is something pretty much all competitors are doing as well. Time will tell, but there is a LOT of activity going on at Torslanda and Lindholmen with Volvo right now.
The design of the current Volvo and Polestar models were done mostly in Sweden, but the manufacturing for the EV models are done in China. Volvo did report that they will consider using their US plant to build the EX30 if the demand is there.
Always follow the ownership thus Volvo Cars is Chinese but that could also change in the future: first Swedish owned, then USA owned (by Ford) and now Chinese owned!
I would call them a chinese multi-national. Smart strategy going forward into the electric vehicle era, making them closer to where their consumers are. Much as I would like to be critical of chinese cars, my current Honda Fit was built in China. I have now had it for 10 years, and am seriously looking at replacing it with the Volvo EX30. Would prefer it to have the Tesla charging port (since I live in North America), which is probably less than a year away. And need to watch for changes in the rebates available in Canada (since we will have a national election in the next two years).
Get used to it . China is king when it comes to EVs , most cars around the world have been full of Chinese parts for year's! What a fantastic job they've done too 😊
A few years ago, Volvo abruptly purged all the old parts from their warehouses, and no longer supports the old volvo cars (like mine). A very sad day, because Volvo had been probably the best supported car ever made. Yes, they are a chinese company now with a few swedish people left. Moving upscale fast. Volvos are quite expensive now. Love the wool interiors on the high trim levels.
It’s Chinese owned but still represents the best of Nordic design. It’s like Lotus being owned by the same parent company as well. JLR are similar in being owned by Ratan Tata in India. They’re makers from other locations all owned by a Chinese business in this case. Some models are made in the country of origin (Sweden for Volvo obvs) whilst others are made in China. It’s a business. Do they still represent the DNA of what made them great in the first place, and the nation of origin? Yes, I think so, provided design and engineering stay where the experience and history of the brand is, then I would still describe Volvo as a Swedish company. I think SAIC are doing the same thing for MG. Leave design and engineering in England but manufacture in China. Thats a winning combination I think. The fact that some factories pop up in other places (other than China) is just symptomatic of a business that needs to make a profit. It’s a global business.
Mostly agree but the reason why they pop up outside of China is not because of profit, but to get around protectionists policies put up by countries that can't compete. Let's face it, if there is zero tarriffs on EVs, 100% will be made in China. Their scale and supply chain is unmatched.
With the EVs taking over the world, most of the legacy technologies will be made redundant. Perhaps the design and the chassis design will remain, but the main technologies with the EVs are the batteries and the programming. China has the lead and will continue to lead in the foreseeing future.
@@dawebslave3571 I respect your opinion, and possibly you are correct. But there is a little more to it than that, IMO. EVs represent an opportunity to change how vehicles are used for domestic purposes and how we interact with them. So far it’s been underwhelming on that score. I am not talking of Robotaxis here, but enhanced personal mobility and what a vehicle could do more of just for you. One or 2 ideas stand out, but in the main makers have been (or should I say; they have tried to be) exactly the same as every ICE vehicle out there in the familiarity stakes. Thats been understandable in early adopter days, but hardly noteworthy. Nothing mainstream has sparked my interest so far except for some gems of ideas in niche segments. Ironically, it’s the batteries and software that need more enhancement and improvement at this time. But we also need ideas on what an EV should be. Time we had a counter disruption.
@@GolLeeMe I think the next phase of EV development should be road safety. It has never become as close as EVs to achieve the goal. Whoever develops an inter-vehicle interactive protocol will be the winner. The future vehicles should cut down the human errors. Vehicles on road know exactly how close they are with other objects and cars etc. They will have the ability to predict a collision and avoid them with the help of wireless inter-vehicle communication. 5G fits this purpose as it provides fine location, finer than GPS.
@@dawebslave3571 Yes this is an aspect for sure. But I would not have given it too much priority, even though it’s fantastic technology. Self driving or full autonomous EVs are still a long way off IMO. Even if the technical challenges can be overcome, more humdrum issues will remain. For instance; In a crash, who is responsible? The human or the autonomous vehicle? At the moment, for any autonomous driving mode the human behind the wheel (in jurisdictions I have come across) seems to be the responsible party. That sounds reasonable, as there will always be a less than perfect machine score, and someone has to be responsible. How many humans will accept the vehicle determining actions on the road but then being made the responsible party for the actions of the vehicle? I can’t say I would want to be in that position myself, and I doubt I am alone in this. Etal, Robotaxis? But still it’s something that leads towards other mobility issues that EVs can explore. At the moment EVs don’t have perfect ADAS, so we are a long way from the reality. Just my opinion.
I think there was or is a quality perception issue still around "pure" chinese EV'a, coupled with some older design mistakes. If we look at BYD and others, this seems to be going and fast. This definitely looks and feels like a Volvo and that essence probably makes it remain european for now, despite the reality of what is actually happening. No one really turns their nose up at say Apple stating, :"Designed in California, manufactored in China" do they? The overall QA, design (maybe that was Chinese too?) principles and markeing tone all still feel swedish to me.
Agree, in Europe is very well-known a joke about China - Europe relations. During the rising flags ceremony at the European Union Center in Brussels, there was a Chinese tourist who looked very proud. Someone asked him why he was so proud, as none is the Chinese flag. His answer has been defining the current situation:" Yes, but have you read the labels? All are MADE IN CHINA...!"
I own 2 Volvos because I love their classic understated DESIGN. As long as they stick to their design roots they will remain Swedish for me. Having said that, I remain alarmed by the number of brands Geely is trying to launch/manage…
I would say legally speaking, Volvo is a Chinese company. Just like Bentley is a VW company and Rolls Royce automotive is a BMW company, making them German. At least in those two cases, there is still many aspects of the vehicles done in the UK. When I consider Volvo, I believe they use Swedish design to help guide looks and interior, and have a combo of Swedish engineering and Chinese engineering in other aspects of the vehicles. Basically for me, Swedish influenced Chinese company. I feel like many Europeans do not accept the changes that have happened. The British automotive industry is mostly owned by Germans and Chinese companies. Geely made smart moves in getting the MG and Lotus brands as well. While I disagree with the heavy ESUV recently released under the Lotus brand, it was engineered in Germany and China with influence from the British Lotus team, but I consider it a Chinese vehicle. Whomever owns the company is what the company legally becomes. That is just how I view it.
😆 Sandy Munroe went on rant about 3 years ago. He was saying that China was coming. He'll, they're already with Volvo & Polestar. 🤣🤣🤣 Geely owns Land Rover too.
Volvo is a separate company in Geely with its own design department and its own assembly factories. Volvo Cars has managed to stay separate from Geely despite having its majority shares owned by this Chinese multinational corporation.
@@goldliongoldlion5336 If a Chinese Chef in a Chinese restaurant in China makes a Margherita Pizza with ingredients grown in China, the Pizza is a Chinese made, Chinese owned Italian Pizza
It is the swedish subsidiary of a chinese company while they dont own the ev platforms ,they design interior and exterior so in that way they are much more like a marque specific body shop like fleetwood from gm for instance
I reserved an EX30 until I realized the VIN would start with L. No EV tax savings, and, while we may have no choice one day, I refuse to buy Chinese as long as I have an option.
Volvo is largely owned by the Chinese. However, the Chinese, very wisely, provided the funding and left the Swedes to do their own thing. In return, the Chinese learnt how to build good quality cars.
Sam again. 78.65 % Shu Fu Li. Sam still questions whether it is owned by Geely/Shu Fu Li or not. Meanwhile VW only owns 6.88% of XPENG. Sam: "VW basically owns XPENG". If a company has more than 50% of a company this means it owns that company.
Is not 100% Geely, there are other investors in Volvo, and the entire area around the plants is completely rehauled from an infrastructure point of view after Chinese top management visited the area and was disappointed by the access infrastructure (they threatened to leave Sweden if the government is not taking actions, in 2-3 years a completely new roads network was ready in function). Minority stock owners in Volvo have several pension funds and some particulars. From what I know, at least one place on the board is for these minority investors. So yes, there is a Swedish component in Volvo's leading board. Geely is the owner of CEVT (China Electric Vehicle Technology) and this company is in fact the engineering company for Geely's EVs. This company has design offices in both China and Sweden, so the design ONLY in China is not correct. By the way, I have known this company since 2015, a long time before the usual people of the world thought about EVs. This is why China is leading now because their preparations have been done LONG TIME AGO...! PS: Volvo will cease to make ICE cars probably long before 2030, I think in 2026. In Sweden. Is building a joint venture battery factory near Volvo plant with NorthVolt...
By your logic, is Apple American or Chinese? Most of their devices are manufactured in China and their CPUs are made in Taiwan. Is Murdoch still Australian? One could go on...
The difference is Apple is 100% US owned - a US company that outsources manufacturing to China, India and Vietnam. Volvo is ultimately 100% owned by Geely. It's more accurate to say that Volvo is a foreign owned design and part manufacturing subsidiary of a Chinese company, despite the public claims of autonomy Volvo are not permitted to do anything the parent company Geely doesn't want them to.
Where a car is assembled, where its parts are manufactured, and where it is designed is one sort of question. Where a company is headquartered is another. Chinese law requires that the CCP be represented on the senior management team of all Chinese companies and their subsidiaries. The CCP has a geopolitical interest in the design and parts (HW and SW) used in the car. Such parts can be used to control vehicles, to collect personal data, and to collect national security information. There are other laws that make the intellectual capital stored on and communicated over networks that are accessible from China essentially the property of the Chinese central government. So is Volvo a Chinese company? Of course it is.
So, between 1998-2009, Volvo was an American company? I consider Volvo Swedish, as the headquarters and a lot of vehicle development and design still takes place in Gothenburg, Sweden. But one may also consider Volvo a Swedish-Chinese company.
Without chinese investment, Volvo probably disappeared long ago like Saab.!! Swedes should be thankful that Chinese money is saving them and continue to provide jobs for swedish!
XC40 BEV is made in Belgium and China. C40 BEV is also made in Belgium and China. As far as I know C40 is not a plug-in as stated in the video. EX30 jaust started in China. EX90 will be built in the US and in China. Saying that Volvo BEV is predominantly made in China is until today not the case. Maybe in the future . It depends on what will be built in Belgium and Sweden and Slovakia.
Note that when Volvo Cars (not Volvo) say they will be electric only by X, they are talking about having an electric motor in every car. They will still make hybrids, unfortunately.
it's well known that, before Geely took ownership, Volvo was abused badly by its foreign owners and Volvo today still holds its deep grudge for that bitter experience
Seems simple to me if I own a company then it’s my company, a Chinese company owns it so it’s a Chinese company now, even though the Swedish heritage is extremely important to the brand as they have got a reputation that’s highly respected around the world and the design language reflects that. You don’t really know who you buying from more so these days as there is so many link ups between company’s and rebranding of products.
Big multinationals aren’t exactly mom and pop stores, are they? Geely is registered (I presume) in PRC, but it majority owns a number of subsidiaries, one of which is Volvo, registered in Sweden. It builds vehicles of various categories worldwide, constructed from parts sourced internationally. China manufactures a lot of things, but I doubt every single piece of an EX30 built there is made in China. Volvo Geely is building factories in Europe and adding capacity everywhere including in South Korea, I’d guess to avoid putting all its eggs in one basket. It’s also providing funding to battery company NorthVolt, registered in Sweden. No, I’m not comfortable with some of the things going on in the world right now thanks to politicians, but I don’t think anywhere is exempt either. I like what Volvo stands for and the things they are doing in the automotive industry, so I own one. I also own Apple products and sleep OK at night.
@@davidcottrell570 ✌️personally I don’t have a problem with who owns what, I think the question was how ever“ is Volvo now a Chinese company, given it’s ownership, majority of manufacturing and parts, I would say yes and that’s fine, I like the new line of Volvos, that’s the way this world of business works. Its who holds the cards wins .
@@martingill6996Fair enough, but by the same token, JLR is Indian, Rolls Royce, Lamborghini, Bugatti and Bentley are all German. Does it matter, nope. To me the issue is nationalist sentiments drummed up by politicians to further their own aims. While I’m concerned, I’m more worried about some of the more extremist rhetoric being bandied about by certain people across the border from me than I am about bellicose rumblings of politics in Asia.
I'm sceptical til they prove our swedish identity by producing EVs in Torslanda, Gothenburg, Sweden. Is it unlikely? Mayby not, having the battery compony Northvolt here in Sweden it might happen. We'll see.
Very precise and interesting as always, Sam. Volvo's swedish image is just business. All reason to be worried about "outsoursing" to China. But the game is over and union strikes will just speed up this prosess.
Let’s not gloss over the reason for Sweden’s Tesla strike. Labour standards and wages are negotiated in large part between unions and manufacturers (in this case). Musk has refused to negotiate and called them ‘crazy’, bringing his personality to the table. Regardless of whether you are pro or anti union, this isn’t the way to hash out your differences. Once he gets past his ego, the parties will come to the table, even if the other Tesla shareholders have to force his hand to do so. Sweden may be a small part of Tesla’s business, but it’s a significant part, given that this is sending a massive signal to the rest of Europe’s heavily unionized workforce. It could seriously damage their market dominance in the mid to long term. I doubt any EV maker would be so stupid as to follow in his footsteps regardless as to their ownership.
If you really want to answer this question, you first have to define what determines the nationality of a multinational company. Without that definition, it's just a meaningless discussion. My suggestion: the registered location of the main operating company. You can come up with a lot of other suggestions, like nationality of board members, location of R&D, location of production, ownership structure, etc. But you will run into the same problem over and over again: what to decide when there is more than one nationality involved. For instance, ownership. Ferrari Spa is the main operating company of the famous Italian(?) sports car maker. Registered in Italy, however it's wholy owned by a Dutch holding, Ferrari NV. The main shareholder of this holding is also a Dutch company, Exor NV. The owners of Exor are predominantly, but not exclusively Italian nationals. Is Ferrari Italian, Dutch or something else? Volvo Cars is the main operating company of Volvo and it's registered in Sweden. It's main shareholder is also a Swedish company, Geely Sweden Holdings. Above that is string of companies and holdings in China, British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, but the ultimate controller is a Chinese citizen. Volvo's board is half Swedish and half from the rest of the world. Only two of the 14 members are Chinese. There are no Chinese citizens in senior management, except for the CEO of Volvo China. Prime location for Volvo R&D is Sweden, a company called CEVT. It's Geely Group's main R&D location (the number 1 reason why Li Shufu bought Volvo in the first place). Apart from the CMA and SEA platforms, also several models from Zeekr and Lynk & Co were developed mainly in Gothenburg. Volvo prodution is shared between Europe, USA and China. So in all it's operations, Volvo is a multinational company. However it's main operating company is registered in Sweden and the board resides there. In my eyes, this makes it a Swedish company.
@@TB-up4xi So you propose a definition based on ownership structure. But why then stop halfway the tree? I already told you the structure. Volvo is owned by a Swedish holding of Geely, then there are a bunch of companies and holdings in China, but the top Chinese holding is owned by two offshore holdings, one in the British Virgin Islands and one in the Cayman Islands. These two holdings are the top of the tree. So we should call Volvo (and Geely) Caribean car manufacturers?
its basically All Chinese Car Production : in the earlier days Chinese bought VOLVO for 2 reasons - to keep the Logo alive AND marketing purposes ; Volvo already a household name : today Volvo's Production and Supply chain all DEPENDED on China :
To paraphrase a famous Chinese leader, it doesn't matter if a car is swedish or Chinese as long as it a good car and gets you where you want to go lol😅😅😅
I think after gaining foothold chinese probably open factories closer to customers to assemble the cars. Shipping cars over seas doesnt make much sense?
It seems to be quite cheap! But I guess the wessels have to go empty in the other direction and that isn't for free. They can't even transport empty containers on these wessels, I think.
Volvo has not been Swedish since sold to Ford decades ago, and it’s Ford who sold it to Geely. If you didn’t have a problem then yet has a problem now, then you have bigotry/racism issues.
This is a bit ridiculous and only relevant due to the strong anti-Chinese sentiments in the West. Volvo is a Swedish company with majority Chinese ownership. You failed to mention the fact that Volvo has a large factory in Sweden where they make the XC90, XC60, V60, S60 and V90. Once the electrification roadmap is complete, this factory will be making EVs. By the Swedish manufacturing plant Volvo will also build a battery factory, which received planning approval this summer. Volvo’s brand identity is closely tied to Sweden and Geely will want to retain this brand value. I believe China will become a dominant market for Volvo and that the number of cars made for China in China will dwarf cars made in Europe. Indeed, cars in the smaller classes made in China will also be exported to Europe, however, the flagship models on sale in Europe will continue coming out of Sweden. No one would call Seat or Skoda a German car, and very few are hung up on Land Rover being Indian-owned. This Volvo is Chinese discourse is purely a way to stir up feelings and generate views. When Volvo’s corporate HQ moves to China is when I will call Volvo a Chinese company.
Anti-Chinese sentiments, anti-West sentiments - every region views every other with suspicion and there are people/governments who will capitalize on this in order to promote their agendas / profit - it's just the way the world works. The introduction of and reaction to the Chinese owned/made automobiles seems similar to the Japanese small car/fuel efficient auto "invasion" of the 70's. For Geely it's a way into the US market and an eventual workaround to the "chicken tax" - you'll know how much control they have over Volvo IF Geely's other brands like Zeekr start being able to be sold and repaired at Volvo service centers like Polestars are and or built at or near Volvo's factories.
Affordability is the very reason they came to China. The country that believes so heavily in collective agreements fled to a foreign country to reduce production costs with a non-union workforce.
Why is this even a concern? Did people question it when lamborghini and bentley was bought by a german company, when landrover and jaguar was bought an indian company? This CHINA CHINA CHINA needs to stop man.
As a not very proud owner of a 2023 V60 T6 PHEV I have to say that the styling is definitely Swedish but the build quality is Chinese! I miss the built quality of my previous BMW 330e PHEV. Miles better than this Volvo. Only less than 8 months old and just 12000km and it already shows lots of cabin noises and creaking plastics. Still have to wait more 40 months to swap it for something better built. Lots of colleagues with XC40 PHEV have been having all sorts of problems. Disappointing…
The trend of deindustrialization of the western world has been going on for years which caused the hollow out of the western industry supply chain. Only China has the most complete and competitive supply chain for the complete parts of EV. That was the reason BMW moved the Mini EV production line to China, same for Tesla.
@@MMLL369 Tesla's German factory was delayed due to environmental issues as some forest land was used causing all kinds of demonstration. The Green Party wanted to bring Germany back to the agricultural society and stay poor. The deindustrialization of Germany and France can never be reversed as Germany lost the cheap Russian gas for the chemical industry and energy for industry.
@@harisoepangkat6085 I'm just totally convinced how businessmen like Martin Brudermüller (CEO of BASF) having the vision, as if he saw the gas crisis was coming. BASF is saved by his eu10B investment in China.
@@MMLL369 Frau Angela Merkel knew Russia was not Germany's enemy and Russia needs European products and technology so Frau Merkel firmly refused Ukraine to become NATO member. The US wanted to use Ukraine as a proxy to dismember Russia like what happened to Soviet Union before. That was a total miscalculation.
Intresting with this western democracy is that money dictates. If you make better profit with production in China instead in more expensive western country, then companies will choose China. At the bottom line it is no problem that it is a dictatorship. More important is the profit and shares to the stockowners. Democracy and moral are secondary. Putler and leaders in China know that.
Exactly, and many of the customers chose the cheapest possible "thing" what ever it may be. (As I didn't want to support Putin, I stopped travelling to Russia after 2012. No, didn't write wrong! Already 2008 Russia took land from Georgia...)
I dont get it, that some battery companies still insist on using Cobalt. The small gain in some percentage better range doesn't weight against the negatives around the use of Cobalt.
Sweden - it didn't want to give Norway 40% of Volvo as an exchange for Norwegian assets because of nationalism - then Norway turned filthy rich because of these assets. 🤣🤣🤣
1) physical buttons mostly removed 2) huge sunroof without shade to gain some head room, so you can enjoy some in-car human flesh roast during summer. Yeah that's 100% a cheap Chinese EV.
Yeah, the Chinese government should not have allowed it too. In China, westerners have historically been called "pack of wolves". Did you not see the flying colours on Volvo's ledger under Ford? Volvo was considered lucky (very lucky) that it didn't get the usual US-absorbed-company treatment, being disemboweled and sold by pieces. Now that Volvo is finally showing signs of recovery, the Swedish management wanted to take it back, like the fail-coup few months ago. No wonder they were called pack of wolves, ungrateful animals. Without Geely, Volvo would have been wiped out on the surface of Earth like Saab.
I remember a number of years ago when South Korea was very proud to have been able to deliver world's biggest and most luxurious cruise ship... There was one small but... The ship was made and designed in Finland, and I guess a great deal of the skilled worker come and came from foremost Estonia and Poland. Now the Meyer werft in Turku, Finland has recently finished the work on the, now, biggest cruising ship in the world. Now the owner of the shipyard is German...
Whatever you guys say, Volvo is 100% owned Chinese company. No luxury brands including Lexus or Genesis, no one say "Made by Germany or Japan, or Korea. Interesting enough, the year Chinese bought it off, they massively came with "made by Sweden" logo and Swedish flags everywhere. Simply, Chinese is misadvertising to gain profits. If they think they are the EV leading country, then no way they would hide the origin. That being said, Made in China is Made in China they kinda proved themselves.
It's around 83% Chinese owned and most EVs are being made in China with Chinese batteries so yes mostly Chinese. They have taken the best from Sweden - design, driving dynamics and added their strengths -batteries, platform, synergies with Smart, Zeekr. Geely is very clever.
Indeed, production sites and the origin of parts and funds are only one facet of what a company truly is (its financial operations and logistics). Let's not forget the key people in the company who make the main decisions about the vehicles and who design them, where they come from and where they are based now, i.e. who exactly insufflate the real soul in the final product, wherever it is made and whoever funds it:
Volvo: CEO Jim Rowan (UK); Head of Design Jeremy Offer (UK), Gothenburg, SE.
Polestar: CEO Thomas Ingenlath (SE); Head of Design Maximilian Missoni (DE), Gothenburg, SE.
They are clever. But.... . Quality of new Volvo's is awful. They have a very poor paintjob, the rust (bottom) and reliability, fit and finish is poor. The cars are developed for business lease only, 5 or 6 years max.
Geely also owns 20% of Daimler.
Joakim Rydholm (Polestar vehicle dynamics guy) is the best!!!
@@avdp9095 Volvo is performing better now than it did when it was owned by Ford.
If you don’t know, following cars are partly developed in Sweden since Geely stepped in: Volvo, Polestar, Zeekr, Lync & Co, Lotus, London taxi Smart and probably soon Aston Martin. Nio have Swedish head of designer. Mercedes has a swede in control and Mercedes is now owned by Geelys owner by 10% and chineese BAIC by 10%. Volvo have just had a gigacasting machine installed in Sweden and are building a large battery fabric.
One of the reasons I skip Polestar. After all, Made in China is made in china.
Well, I happen to work for a tier one supplier of various OEMs and from our perspective, it's Chinese, because in the end all purchasing decisions are made in China, favouring Chinese suppliers. And this affects the design and technical decisions as well.
I think Volvo team keeps independent. As to sourcing supplies, it surely goes with best offers, the same as iPhone.
As a Swede I see Volvo as a Chinese/Swedish company. Things don't have to be binary, one or the other.
Most of the design work and technical development is still done in Sweden, except the base platform. Manufacturing is mostly done in China but that is true for many other things too, like iPhones.
Operation and design in Sweden, technology and manufacturing in China
Do you know if Volvo cars use Northvolt batteries?
What exactly is done in Sweden? Tech and platform developed in china, manufactured in china, batteries from there as well, software is from Google, owned by Geely. They tweak how it looks a bit in Sweden? Europe made a gigantic, and very obvious even at the time, mistake giving all of our technology, manufacturing, even IP away to China.
@universalmirage1208 it's not a solution for anything, other than pleasing some short sighted bean counters. The company will be gutted, all the know-how stolen until there's only a symbolic presence left in Sweden to trick people into thinking they are buying a Swedish product. The EU can very much maintain a complete car manufacturing supply chain without China if it wishes.
@@harmony3138 and what might be the difference between your examples and volvo I wonder... Maybe that in addition to ownership, manufacturing engineering and r&d are also done in China.
Volvo is currently building a major battery manufacturing plant in Gothenburg, Sweden. Which may indicate that when ICE production is over in Gothenburg, it may be replaced by EV production there.
The trend for the future is "Made by Companies" and not "Made in Counties". Like Tesla, BYD, Apple, CATL, and so on....
Sorry to say Volvo is now a Chinese company like MG. However the heritage of Volvo will always be Sweden. The only reason they still make some gasoline cars in Sweden is because of conditions of the sale agreement.
logistics volvo is sweden volvo trucks en cars is chinese
Would there be a problem if Volvo was French instead?
@@JappaKneads Trouble I see, this is like batteries, now China make like 75% world wide batteries. The communist or now the dictator there in China (I say this because now Xi do the same as putin, he is forced his way to a third mandate). Decide to punish any Democratic country, he will be able to do since soon all the car will be made in China only, or essential parts if this continue.
People will still see Volvo as Swedish even if it's Chinese owned, for the same reason that most people still see Budweiser as American even though it's Belgian owned.
@mongo64071 not so. Volvo do the majority of the design and r/d in Sweden for Geely. Geely basically do the manufacturing process. Geely purchased Volvo for their technology, brand loyalty and market awareness.
As far as I know, the SEA platform was developed by Volvo or Geely, but in Gothenburg, Sweden, not in China (as was said in the video).
You are correct.
@@robertfonovic3551 Where have you read this? - all reports I have seen suggest that the SEA platform was developed by Geely and the full name is the Geely Sustainable Experience Architecture. It was developed by Geely - possibly with the assistance of the Volvo engineering team as a modification to the their previous PMA platform. I haven't seen any Volvo executives claiming credit for the platform which would seem a little unusual if they had indeed had the majority of input.
Volvo Group of Sweden sold its Volvo Car Division to Ford, who floundered with it, and then sold it to Geely, a Chinese company, who then became the parent company of Volvo Car Division just as Volvo Group and Ford had been. Unless Geely transfers all of the Volvo Car Division company operations from Sweden to China, and sells all of Volvo Car Division assets in Sweden, it will still be a Swedish company just as any other Swedish company with foreign ownership. Volvo Group is still going strong with its trucking, heavy manufacturing, and other services.
Volvo trucks just laid off 400 in Sweden.
@@davidnorton5887 Record sales Q3 2023
@@davidnorton5887and?
Volvo is ultimately 100% owned by Geely - Apple manufacture in China, India and Vietnam but I don't know of anyone who would suggest Apple is anything but a US company. I think it's fairer to describe Volvo as a foreign design and manufacturing subsidiary of a Chinese company.
@@davidnorton5887 Yikes! I wonder if it had to do with moving towards electric trucks?
My assumption would be, its ICE technology and most of its safety is still swedish/volvo.. But the EV tech, the newer platforms are Geely/ Chinese.. And they just share techs, making thier products exceptional.
Chinese. I was very impressed by the build quality of the Polestar 2 I recently rented. - Zoomer
Ehm, the production facility in Gothenburg (the Swedish headquarters) is undergoing modernization right now with megacasting and the building of an enormous battery factory. The plans are stretched well beyond 2030 with a production capacity, in Sweden, of around a third of the cars sold. Design, development (of most models) and most corporate functions are still in Sweden, and there are virtually no plans to change that.
The smaller cars with a tighter budget is co-developed with other brands and that is something pretty much all competitors are doing as well.
Time will tell, but there is a LOT of activity going on at Torslanda and Lindholmen with Volvo right now.
The design of the current Volvo and Polestar models were done mostly in Sweden, but the manufacturing for the EV models are done in China. Volvo did report that they will consider using their US plant to build the EX30 if the demand is there.
Manufacturing is done in Sweden, US and China. They are also planning a new plant in Slovakia
@@sneaky_krait7271Don't forget Ghent, Belgium. The XC40 and C40, among others, are manufactured there.
@@karl-erikkald8876 Indeed, I forgot that one
From 15th December the French government will no longer allow the EV eco bonus (5000€) on cars built outside Europe.
Are really bonuses like that interesting for any government. Better to support charging stations in small touristic villages.
Always follow the ownership thus Volvo Cars is Chinese but that could also change in the future: first Swedish owned, then USA owned (by Ford) and now Chinese owned!
A bit like Apple, but Apple doesn't have US factories to produce the devices.
I would call them a chinese multi-national. Smart strategy going forward into the electric vehicle era, making them closer to where their consumers are. Much as I would like to be critical of chinese cars, my current Honda Fit was built in China. I have now had it for 10 years, and am seriously looking at replacing it with the Volvo EX30. Would prefer it to have the Tesla charging port (since I live in North America), which is probably less than a year away. And need to watch for changes in the rebates available in Canada (since we will have a national election in the next two years).
I bought a used 2018 China-made car in 2021. It was a Volvo S90. Just traded it in for my first EV, a 2019 BMW i3.
Had zero issues with it over the 2 yrs I owned (yrs 3.5-5.5).
Get used to it . China is king when it comes to EVs , most cars around the world have been full of Chinese parts for year's! What a fantastic job they've done too 😊
A few years ago, Volvo abruptly purged all the old parts from their warehouses, and no longer supports the old volvo cars (like mine). A very sad day, because Volvo had been probably the best supported car ever made.
Yes, they are a chinese company now with a few swedish people left.
Moving upscale fast. Volvos are quite expensive now. Love the wool interiors on the high trim levels.
It’s Chinese owned but still represents the best of Nordic design. It’s like Lotus being owned by the same parent company as well. JLR are similar in being owned by Ratan Tata in India. They’re makers from other locations all owned by a Chinese business in this case. Some models are made in the country of origin (Sweden for Volvo obvs) whilst others are made in China. It’s a business. Do they still represent the DNA of what made them great in the first place, and the nation of origin? Yes, I think so, provided design and engineering stay where the experience and history of the brand is, then I would still describe Volvo as a Swedish company. I think SAIC are doing the same thing for MG. Leave design and engineering in England but manufacture in China. Thats a winning combination I think. The fact that some factories pop up in other places (other than China) is just symptomatic of a business that needs to make a profit. It’s a global business.
Mostly agree but the reason why they pop up outside of China is not because of profit, but to get around protectionists policies put up by countries that can't compete. Let's face it, if there is zero tarriffs on EVs, 100% will be made in China. Their scale and supply chain is unmatched.
With the EVs taking over the world, most of the legacy technologies will be made redundant. Perhaps the design and the chassis design will remain, but the main technologies with the EVs are the batteries and the programming. China has the lead and will continue to lead in the foreseeing future.
@@dawebslave3571 I respect your opinion, and possibly you are correct. But there is a little more to it than that, IMO. EVs represent an opportunity to change how vehicles are used for domestic purposes and how we interact with them. So far it’s been underwhelming on that score. I am not talking of Robotaxis here, but enhanced personal mobility and what a vehicle could do more of just for you. One or 2 ideas stand out, but in the main makers have been (or should I say; they have tried to be) exactly the same as every ICE vehicle out there in the familiarity stakes. Thats been understandable in early adopter days, but hardly noteworthy. Nothing mainstream has sparked my interest so far except for some gems of ideas in niche segments. Ironically, it’s the batteries and software that need more enhancement and improvement at this time. But we also need ideas on what an EV should be. Time we had a counter disruption.
@@GolLeeMe I think the next phase of EV development should be road safety. It has never become as close as EVs to achieve the goal. Whoever develops an inter-vehicle interactive protocol will be the winner. The future vehicles should cut down the human errors. Vehicles on road know exactly how close they are with other objects and cars etc. They will have the ability to predict a collision and avoid them with the help of wireless inter-vehicle communication. 5G fits this purpose as it provides fine location, finer than GPS.
@@dawebslave3571 Yes this is an aspect for sure. But I would not have given it too much priority, even though it’s fantastic technology. Self driving or full autonomous EVs are still a long way off IMO. Even if the technical challenges can be overcome, more humdrum issues will remain. For instance; In a crash, who is responsible? The human or the autonomous vehicle? At the moment, for any autonomous driving mode the human behind the wheel (in jurisdictions I have come across) seems to be the responsible party. That sounds reasonable, as there will always be a less than perfect machine score, and someone has to be responsible. How many humans will accept the vehicle determining actions on the road but then being made the responsible party for the actions of the vehicle? I can’t say I would want to be in that position myself, and I doubt I am alone in this. Etal, Robotaxis? But still it’s something that leads towards other mobility issues that EVs can explore. At the moment EVs don’t have perfect ADAS, so we are a long way from the reality. Just my opinion.
I think there was or is a quality perception issue still around "pure" chinese EV'a, coupled with some older design mistakes. If we look at BYD and others, this seems to be going and fast. This definitely looks and feels like a Volvo and that essence probably makes it remain european for now, despite the reality of what is actually happening. No one really turns their nose up at say Apple stating, :"Designed in California, manufactored in China" do they? The overall QA, design (maybe that was Chinese too?) principles and markeing tone all still feel swedish to me.
Agree, in Europe is very well-known a joke about China - Europe relations. During the rising flags ceremony at the European Union Center in Brussels, there was a Chinese tourist who looked very proud. Someone asked him why he was so proud, as none is the Chinese flag. His answer has been defining the current situation:" Yes, but have you read the labels? All are MADE IN CHINA...!"
Apple's technology is all in California, so it's American. But where is most of volvo's technology, apart from design and operations?
@@Aapig Split, in Sweden, China, and other locations.
@@Aapigwell, it's well known that, before Geely took ownership, Volvo was abused badly by its foreign owners
@@costiqueR there may be some guy in sweden drawing on a computer the design but everything in the car is from china so that makes it trash quality
I own 2 Volvos because I love their classic understated DESIGN. As long as they stick to their design roots they will remain Swedish for me. Having said that, I remain alarmed by the number of brands Geely is trying to launch/manage…
You can see for yourself that Geely's Zeekr brand has a lot of Swedish inputs. I think it's best of both worlds.
I would say legally speaking, Volvo is a Chinese company. Just like Bentley is a VW company and Rolls Royce automotive is a BMW company, making them German. At least in those two cases, there is still many aspects of the vehicles done in the UK.
When I consider Volvo, I believe they use Swedish design to help guide looks and interior, and have a combo of Swedish engineering and Chinese engineering in other aspects of the vehicles. Basically for me, Swedish influenced Chinese company.
I feel like many Europeans do not accept the changes that have happened. The British automotive industry is mostly owned by Germans and Chinese companies.
Geely made smart moves in getting the MG and Lotus brands as well. While I disagree with the heavy ESUV recently released under the Lotus brand, it was engineered in Germany and China with influence from the British Lotus team, but I consider it a Chinese vehicle.
Whomever owns the company is what the company legally becomes. That is just how I view it.
😆 Sandy Munroe went on rant about 3 years ago. He was saying that China was coming. He'll, they're already with Volvo & Polestar. 🤣🤣🤣 Geely owns Land Rover too.
TATA motors (India) owns Land Rover not Geely.
Correction: C40 is not a PHEV. It is BEV.
Volvo is a separate company in Geely with its own design department and its own assembly factories. Volvo Cars has managed to stay separate from Geely despite having its majority shares owned by this Chinese multinational corporation.
I have an advice to you, Sam. Keep an eye on the battery manufacturer Swedish Northvolt. They have some interesting products in the pipeline!
Its a Chinese owned Swedish company
So, it is Chinese!
@@goldliongoldlion5336 If a Chinese Chef in a Chinese restaurant in China makes a Margherita Pizza with ingredients grown in China, the Pizza is a Chinese made, Chinese owned Italian Pizza
@@teoengchinIt would be Chinese, again.
Viking is one of Tesla's social media agents, who will make BS attacking anything that threatens Tesla's sales, including Volvo.
At least Volvo still exists, unlike SAAB (after their downfall/ruin while owned by GM).
It is the swedish subsidiary of a chinese company while they dont own the ev platforms ,they design interior and exterior so in that way they are much more like a marque specific body shop like fleetwood from gm for instance
I reserved an EX30 until I realized the VIN would start with L. No EV tax savings, and, while we may have no choice one day, I refuse to buy Chinese as long as I have an option.
Unfortunately you’re living in the past.
Volvo is largely owned by the Chinese. However, the Chinese, very wisely, provided the funding and left the Swedes to do their own thing. In return, the Chinese learnt how to build good quality cars.
What are your thoughts on Ford just Purchasing Automotive Power (AMP)?
Sam again.
78.65 % Shu Fu Li. Sam still questions whether it is owned by Geely/Shu Fu Li or not.
Meanwhile VW only owns 6.88% of XPENG. Sam: "VW basically owns XPENG".
If a company has more than 50% of a company this means it owns that company.
Is not 100% Geely, there are other investors in Volvo, and the entire area around the plants is completely rehauled from an infrastructure point of view after Chinese top management visited the area and was disappointed by the access infrastructure (they threatened to leave Sweden if the government is not taking actions, in 2-3 years a completely new roads network was ready in function). Minority stock owners in Volvo have several pension funds and some particulars. From what I know, at least one place on the board is for these minority investors. So yes, there is a Swedish component in Volvo's leading board.
Geely is the owner of CEVT (China Electric Vehicle Technology) and this company is in fact the engineering company for Geely's EVs. This company has design offices in both China and Sweden, so the design ONLY in China is not correct. By the way, I have known this company since 2015, a long time before the usual people of the world thought about EVs. This is why China is leading now because their preparations have been done LONG TIME AGO...!
PS: Volvo will cease to make ICE cars probably long before 2030, I think in 2026. In Sweden. Is building a joint venture battery factory near Volvo plant with NorthVolt...
I think you will find the other investors in Volvo are also ultimately majority owned by Geely.
I love the way Sam says "caaar". Sounds a bit like a New Yorker.
It is a smart way for Chinese to get into European market by selling their products under European names.
Ok… a little puzzled about why there’s a video about Volvo in Sweden, but no video about the Sweden Tesla strike?
By your logic, is Apple American or Chinese? Most of their devices are manufactured in China and their CPUs are made in Taiwan. Is Murdoch still Australian? One could go on...
The difference is Apple is 100% US owned - a US company that outsources manufacturing to China, India and Vietnam. Volvo is ultimately 100% owned by Geely. It's more accurate to say that Volvo is a foreign owned design and part manufacturing subsidiary of a Chinese company, despite the public claims of autonomy Volvo are not permitted to do anything the parent company Geely doesn't want them to.
Where a car is assembled, where its parts are manufactured, and where it is designed is one sort of question. Where a company is headquartered is another.
Chinese law requires that the CCP be represented on the senior management team of all Chinese companies and their subsidiaries. The CCP has a geopolitical interest in the design and parts (HW and SW) used in the car. Such parts can be used to control vehicles, to collect personal data, and to collect national security information. There are other laws that make the intellectual capital stored on and communicated over networks that are accessible from China essentially the property of the Chinese central government.
So is Volvo a Chinese company? Of course it is.
So, between 1998-2009, Volvo was an American company? I consider Volvo Swedish, as the headquarters and a lot of vehicle development and design still takes place in Gothenburg, Sweden. But one may also consider Volvo a Swedish-Chinese company.
For me it's a chinesse brand, where swedish people (propably) are making design and produce them.
Without chinese investment, Volvo probably disappeared long ago like Saab.!! Swedes should be thankful that Chinese money is saving them and continue to provide jobs for swedish!
Some are ungrateful
XC40 BEV is made in Belgium and China. C40 BEV is also made in Belgium and China. As far as I know C40 is not a plug-in as stated in the video. EX30 jaust started in China. EX90 will be built in the US and in China. Saying that Volvo BEV is predominantly made in China is until today not the case. Maybe in the future . It depends on what will be built in Belgium and Sweden and Slovakia.
Gee...when Chinese companies own these foreign brands, questions about their origins came up eh....
Yep. People never ask, is this American or Swedish. Such blatant racism.
China manufacturing. Swedish spirit and design. That’s how it should be these days. To offer an affordable cars.
volvo -- the GLOBAL car. not just chinese, swedish, or broadly european.
Note that when Volvo Cars (not Volvo) say they will be electric only by X, they are talking about having an electric motor in every car. They will still make hybrids, unfortunately.
Cheers mate
The Chinese save Volvo from extinct😂
I love China!
Country where it's made and what's on car's id stamp plate.
What is wrong if volve is Chinese backed? Discrimination?
Nothing from my perspective - I purchased an EX60 T8 ultimate in full knowledge is would be built in China - no issues with me.
Was Volvo considered by some to be American when Ford owned it between 1998-2009?
I totally see them as a Chinese company, which is why I will not buy a new one. I had an 850 Turbo back in the day and loved that car. Sad story.
Volvo is mostly the best of both worlds, Sweden and China. And then some other countries also. So, it is multinational corporation.
it's well known that, before Geely took ownership, Volvo was abused badly by its foreign owners and Volvo today still holds its deep grudge for that bitter experience
@@mingouczjcz3800 before Geely ownership was Ford. If not change ownership it will be bankrupt.
Seems simple to me if I own a company then it’s my company, a Chinese company owns it so it’s a Chinese company now, even though the Swedish heritage is extremely important to the brand as they have got a reputation that’s highly respected around the world and the design language reflects that. You don’t really know who you buying from more so these days as there is so many link ups between company’s and rebranding of products.
So landrover and jaguar is an indian company?😂
Big multinationals aren’t exactly mom and pop stores, are they? Geely is registered (I presume) in PRC, but it majority owns a number of subsidiaries, one of which is Volvo, registered in Sweden. It builds vehicles of various categories worldwide, constructed from parts sourced internationally. China manufactures a lot of things, but I doubt every single piece of an EX30 built there is made in China. Volvo Geely is building factories in Europe and adding capacity everywhere including in South Korea, I’d guess to avoid putting all its eggs in one basket. It’s also providing funding to battery company NorthVolt, registered in Sweden. No, I’m not comfortable with some of the things going on in the world right now thanks to politicians, but I don’t think anywhere is exempt either. I like what Volvo stands for and the things they are doing in the automotive industry, so I own one. I also own Apple products and sleep OK at night.
@@davidcottrell570 ✌️personally I don’t have a problem with who owns what, I think the question was how ever“ is Volvo now a Chinese company, given it’s ownership, majority of manufacturing and parts, I would say yes and that’s fine, I like the new line of Volvos, that’s the way this world of business works. Its who holds the cards wins .
@@IamHandsome4u yep, but doubt they will survive if that don’t pull their finger out
@@martingill6996Fair enough, but by the same token, JLR is Indian, Rolls Royce, Lamborghini, Bugatti and Bentley are all German. Does it matter, nope. To me the issue is nationalist sentiments drummed up by politicians to further their own aims. While I’m concerned, I’m more worried about some of the more extremist rhetoric being bandied about by certain people across the border from me than I am about bellicose rumblings of politics in Asia.
I'm sceptical til they prove our swedish identity by producing EVs in Torslanda, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Is it unlikely?
Mayby not, having the battery compony Northvolt here in Sweden it might happen.
We'll see.
Morning mate
Very precise and interesting as always, Sam. Volvo's swedish image is just business. All reason to be worried about "outsoursing" to China. But the game is over and union strikes will just speed up this prosess.
Let’s not gloss over the reason for Sweden’s Tesla strike. Labour standards and wages are negotiated in large part between unions and manufacturers (in this case). Musk has refused to negotiate and called them ‘crazy’, bringing his personality to the table. Regardless of whether you are pro or anti union, this isn’t the way to hash out your differences. Once he gets past his ego, the parties will come to the table, even if the other Tesla shareholders have to force his hand to do so. Sweden may be a small part of Tesla’s business, but it’s a significant part, given that this is sending a massive signal to the rest of Europe’s heavily unionized workforce. It could seriously damage their market dominance in the mid to long term. I doubt any EV maker would be so stupid as to follow in his footsteps regardless as to their ownership.
If you really want to answer this question, you first have to define what determines the nationality of a multinational company. Without that definition, it's just a meaningless discussion. My suggestion: the registered location of the main operating company.
You can come up with a lot of other suggestions, like nationality of board members, location of R&D, location of production, ownership structure, etc. But you will run into the same problem over and over again: what to decide when there is more than one nationality involved.
For instance, ownership. Ferrari Spa is the main operating company of the famous Italian(?) sports car maker. Registered in Italy, however it's wholy owned by a Dutch holding, Ferrari NV. The main shareholder of this holding is also a Dutch company, Exor NV. The owners of Exor are predominantly, but not exclusively Italian nationals. Is Ferrari Italian, Dutch or something else?
Volvo Cars is the main operating company of Volvo and it's registered in Sweden. It's main shareholder is also a Swedish company, Geely Sweden Holdings. Above that is string of companies and holdings in China, British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, but the ultimate controller is a Chinese citizen.
Volvo's board is half Swedish and half from the rest of the world. Only two of the 14 members are Chinese. There are no Chinese citizens in senior management, except for the CEO of Volvo China. Prime location for Volvo R&D is Sweden, a company called CEVT. It's Geely Group's main R&D location (the number 1 reason why Li Shufu bought Volvo in the first place). Apart from the CMA and SEA platforms, also several models from Zeekr and Lynk & Co were developed mainly in Gothenburg. Volvo prodution is shared between Europe, USA and China.
So in all it's operations, Volvo is a multinational company. However it's main operating company is registered in Sweden and the board resides there. In my eyes, this makes it a Swedish company.
Volvo is a subsidiary of a Chinese company with foreign design and manufacturing capabilities - it's not too hard to define what it is.
@@TB-up4xi So you propose a definition based on ownership structure. But why then stop halfway the tree? I already told you the structure. Volvo is owned by a Swedish holding of Geely, then there are a bunch of companies and holdings in China, but the top Chinese holding is owned by two offshore holdings, one in the British Virgin Islands and one in the Cayman Islands. These two holdings are the top of the tree. So we should call Volvo (and Geely) Caribean car manufacturers?
its basically All Chinese Car Production : in the earlier days Chinese bought VOLVO for 2 reasons - to keep the Logo alive AND marketing purposes ; Volvo already a household name : today Volvo's Production and Supply chain all DEPENDED on China :
Just got my xc60 recharge, it's a beautiful car and quality is superb thru out. Love the battery and 455 horse power.
To paraphrase a famous Chinese leader, it doesn't matter if a car is swedish or Chinese as long as it a good car and gets you where you want to go lol😅😅😅
I think after gaining foothold chinese probably open factories closer to customers to assemble the cars. Shipping cars over seas doesnt make much sense?
It seems to be quite cheap! But I guess the wessels have to go empty in the other direction and that isn't for free. They can't even transport empty containers on these wessels, I think.
Volvo has not been Swedish since sold to Ford decades ago, and it’s Ford who sold it to Geely. If you didn’t have a problem then yet has a problem now, then you have bigotry/racism issues.
This is a bit ridiculous and only relevant due to the strong anti-Chinese sentiments in the West. Volvo is a Swedish company with majority Chinese ownership. You failed to mention the fact that Volvo has a large factory in Sweden where they make the XC90, XC60, V60, S60 and V90. Once the electrification roadmap is complete, this factory will be making EVs. By the Swedish manufacturing plant Volvo will also build a battery factory, which received planning approval this summer. Volvo’s brand identity is closely tied to Sweden and Geely will want to retain this brand value. I believe China will become a dominant market for Volvo and that the number of cars made for China in China will dwarf cars made in Europe. Indeed, cars in the smaller classes made in China will also be exported to Europe, however, the flagship models on sale in Europe will continue coming out of Sweden. No one would call Seat or Skoda a German car, and very few are hung up on Land Rover being Indian-owned. This Volvo is Chinese discourse is purely a way to stir up feelings and generate views. When Volvo’s corporate HQ moves to China is when I will call Volvo a Chinese company.
Anti-Chinese sentiments, anti-West sentiments - every region views every other with suspicion and there are people/governments who will capitalize on this in order to promote their agendas / profit - it's just the way the world works. The introduction of and reaction to the Chinese owned/made automobiles seems similar to the Japanese small car/fuel efficient auto "invasion" of the 70's.
For Geely it's a way into the US market and an eventual workaround to the "chicken tax" - you'll know how much control they have over Volvo IF Geely's other brands like Zeekr start being able to be sold and repaired at Volvo service centers like Polestars are and or built at or near Volvo's factories.
Viking is Tesla's social media agent, who will make BS attacking anything that threatens Tesla's sales, including Volvo.
I have no issues with Chinese manufacturing - The Model 3 from China has the highest built quality and reliability of any model 3.
Is Range Rover Indian or British?
Volvo is now hybrid…..half Swedish, half Chinese.
Chedish? Swinese?
Volvo: From Swedens pride to Swedens biggest misstake
They’re Swinese!
Nah, they're Chindesh!
😅😅😅
For me, they are now Chinese so no more Volvo for me.
If it wasn't for China you would be naked, own no appliances or anything that plugs into a power socket. 😅😅😅
Xia xia
They aren’t affordable so they must still be Swedish .
Affordability is the very reason they came to China. The country that believes so heavily in collective agreements fled to a foreign country to reduce production costs with a non-union workforce.
@@dallasjohnson8923 a B segment car in the Model 3/Y price range…….in Australia.
The car is not built by the IF Metall workers . It is Chinese
Why is this even a concern? Did people question it when lamborghini and bentley was bought by a german company, when landrover and jaguar was bought an indian company? This CHINA CHINA CHINA needs to stop man.
It only concerns the simpletons that infest this site.
As a not very proud owner of a 2023 V60 T6 PHEV I have to say that the styling is definitely Swedish but the build quality is Chinese! I miss the built quality of my previous BMW 330e PHEV. Miles better than this Volvo. Only less than 8 months old and just 12000km and it already shows lots of cabin noises and creaking plastics. Still have to wait more 40 months to swap it for something better built. Lots of colleagues with XC40 PHEV have been having all sorts of problems. Disappointing…
You sound very racist.
Sorry Sam, but its still made in France 🙂
C40 is not a PHEV.
CHINESE
you think simplisticly. 😮
吉利算是没把沃尔沃盘死。你说的对，任何一家企业都不能过度依赖单一市场不然就变成了共产主义。中国车企需要一定时间来征服欧洲客户，原因很清楚，很多人对中国车还是很陌生再加上中国制造就是便宜不好用的刻板印象。让一个车穿上欧洲人 的衣服还是一个很实用的办法。毕竟如果车是好的用的是什么国家的技术就没几个人在乎了。MG就是相对比较成功的例子。
看用词，很明显你一定不是中国人。😄
为啥？我看这就是中国人啊@@XingZheWuKong
Why and does it matter? @@XingZheWuKong
The trend of deindustrialization of the western world has been going on for years which caused the hollow out of the western industry supply chain. Only China has the most complete and competitive supply chain for the complete parts of EV. That was the reason BMW moved the Mini EV production line to China, same for Tesla.
... and yet, most European countries are still debating whether to build male / female / unisex toilets.
@@MMLL369 Tesla's German factory was delayed due to environmental issues as some forest land was used causing all kinds of demonstration. The Green Party wanted to bring Germany back to the agricultural society and stay poor. The deindustrialization of Germany and France can never be reversed as Germany lost the cheap Russian gas for the chemical industry and energy for industry.
@@harisoepangkat6085 I'm just totally convinced how businessmen like Martin Brudermüller (CEO of BASF) having the vision, as if he saw the gas crisis was coming. BASF is saved by his eu10B investment in China.
@@MMLL369 Frau Angela Merkel knew Russia was not Germany's enemy and Russia needs European products and technology so Frau Merkel firmly refused Ukraine to become NATO member. The US wanted to use Ukraine as a proxy to dismember Russia like what happened to Soviet Union before. That was a total miscalculation.
Is the Chinese restaurant in your western country really a Chinese restaurant? The truth might surprise you. :) Real Chinese cuisine tastes different.
Intresting with this western democracy is that money dictates. If you make better profit with production in China instead in more expensive western country, then companies will choose China. At the bottom line it is no problem that it is a dictatorship. More important is the profit and shares to the stockowners. Democracy and moral are secondary. Putler and leaders in China know that.
Exactly, and many of the customers chose the cheapest possible "thing" what ever it may be.
(As I didn't want to support Putin, I stopped travelling to Russia after 2012. No, didn't write wrong! Already 2008 Russia took land from Georgia...)
Chicken tax goes back to 1963, not Trump.
Volvo cars is a Chinese company. Volvo trucking is fully Swedish.
Volvo was super reliable 20 years ago but now not great
Volvo Cars to invest SEK 10bn in Torslanda plant for next generation fully electric car production
At this rate not only will all cars be electric they’ll all be Chinese
I dont get it, that some battery companies still insist on using Cobalt.
The small gain in some percentage better range doesn't weight against the negatives around the use of Cobalt.
Sweden - it didn't want to give Norway 40% of Volvo as an exchange for Norwegian assets because of nationalism - then Norway turned filthy rich because of these assets. 🤣🤣🤣
Is like saying GM is an English cars.
Volvo is Chinese apart from its tag.
Can you say that the design is made in sweeden ?
Chicken tax goes way back to pickup trucks.
Yep. 1967ish
None of those two, because Vulva is universal. 🤣
1) physical buttons mostly removed 2) huge sunroof without shade to gain some head room, so you can enjoy some in-car human flesh roast during summer. Yeah that's 100% a cheap Chinese EV.
It is Chinese, obviously! No matter whether the Swedes feelings! Their government should not have allowed it!
Yeah, the Chinese government should not have allowed it too. In China, westerners have historically been called "pack of wolves".
Did you not see the flying colours on Volvo's ledger under Ford? Volvo was considered lucky (very lucky) that it didn't get the usual US-absorbed-company treatment, being disemboweled and sold by pieces.
Now that Volvo is finally showing signs of recovery, the Swedish management wanted to take it back, like the fail-coup few months ago. No wonder they were called pack of wolves, ungrateful animals. Without Geely, Volvo would have been wiped out on the surface of Earth like Saab.
I remember a number of years ago when South Korea was very proud to have been able to deliver world's biggest and most luxurious cruise ship...
There was one small but... The ship was made and designed in Finland, and I guess a great deal of the skilled worker come and came from foremost Estonia and Poland. Now the Meyer werft in Turku, Finland has recently finished the work on the, now, biggest cruising ship in the world. Now the owner of the shipyard is German...
Whatever you guys say, Volvo is 100% owned Chinese company. No luxury brands including Lexus or Genesis, no one say "Made by Germany or Japan, or Korea. Interesting enough, the year Chinese bought it off, they massively came with "made by Sweden" logo and Swedish flags everywhere. Simply, Chinese is misadvertising to gain profits. If they think they are the EV leading country, then no way they would hide the origin. That being said, Made in China is Made in China they kinda proved themselves.