Volvo M
Boss reveals plans for ride-hailing revolution
“M wwill allow the company to embrace alternatives to tradi traditional car ownership as customer preferences change”
VOLVO has launched a new mobility brand, called M, which will provide on-demand access to cars through a smartphone app. M will do more than simply list nearby cars and book pick-up points, because it will learn users’ habits and offer a personalised customer experience based on their requirements.
Public Beta testing begins this autumn, with M set to launch in Sweden and the United States next year. A UK rollout is likely early in the next decade.
Volvo says M will provide five million “direct consumer relationships” by 2025, allowing the company to embrace
● Scheme set to launch next year, but UK will have to wait
alternatives to traditional car ownership as customer preferences change.
The firm’s CEO Håkan Samuelsson explained: “We recognise that urban consumers are rethinking traditional car ownership. M is part of our answer.”
Volvo has 20 years’ experience in the car-sharing business, after it founded Sunfleet in Sweden in 1998. Sunfleet’s 1,700 cars will be absorbed by M in 2019, while its 50,000-odd subscribers will be able to use M vehicles.
M will become another non-traditional revenue stream for Volvo. Care by Volvo provides a car, servicing and insurance for a monthly fee, while the company’s performance sub-brand, Polestar, and sister company, Lynk & Co, will prioritise subscription-based ownership models.
Mobility services are becoming increasingly fundamental to other car makers’ plans. Volkswagen’s MOIA brand will offer ride-sharing and on-demand vehicles through a fleet of specially-built all-electric and autonomous minivans.
Groupe PSA, the owner of Peugeot, Citroen, DS and Vauxhall, has revealed a car-sharing scheme called Free2move. Ford, meanwhile, is working with ridehailing app Lyft to develop a fleet of on-demand autonomous taxis, with the brand aiming to launch by 2021.