Fascinated by the favorable subsidy regulations in the United States, Volvo Cars is considering expanding its American factory.
According to Volvo Cars CEO Jim Rowan in an interview with the Financial Times, new investments in production capacity in the US are a top priority. Rowan is enticed by the generous subsidies available in the United States for green car investments under the $369 billion Inflation Reduction Act plans.
Rowan stated, “The funding from these programs is running out. If you want to take advantage of it, you need to start planning the investments you wish to make.”
Volvo Cars has had a factory in South Carolina since 2017, and starting next year, it will manufacture the fully electric SUVs Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3 there. The current factory has a production capacity of 150,000 cars per year, significantly less than the Volvo Cars factory in Ghent.
Volvo is actively expanding its production capacity, with ongoing construction of a brand-new factory in Slovakia, set to be operational by 2026, focusing exclusively on electric vehicles.
This increased production capacity is essential to realize Volvo’s ambitious plans. While the company sold 615,000 cars last year, it aims to produce at least 1.2 million cars annually by 2026. As a subsidiary of the Chinese Geely Group, Volvo requires additional factories to meet this target.
One of the key models to achieve this ambitious goal is the compact electric SUV, the EX30, which will not only be manufactured in China.
It’s worth noting that Volvo is not the only automaker benefiting from American subsidies. Toyota recently announced a substantial $8 billion investment in its North Carolina factories.
About the author: Christy Olsen
Christy Olsen, a young author who followed in her father's footsteps and took up journalism at school. She often introduces a lot of subjective things into his texts, always tries to state the essence and give a proper assessment.
