Volvo has undergone a huge transition over the past few decades. Once known for its boxy, often unfashionable estate cars, it has moved gradually upmarket and, like much of the market, switched to offer mainly SUVs. It has been a keen adopter of electrification, first with a comprehensive range of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), but now with a growing electric car range.
Business Motoring speaks to Jack Munford, head of fleet at Volvo Car UK, to hear about the brand’s re-entry to the saloon segment with the ES90, the launch of its first commercial vehicle, the EX30 Cargo, and how it sets itself apart in the fleet market.
Return of the saloon
For the past few years, Volvo UK has offered a range predominantly of SUVs. The S90 and S60 went off sale in 2023 when it briefly discontinued its entire saloon and estate lineup. Both saloons made a return following demand from customers, but have since gone off sale for good.
This has now changed with the introduction of the ES90, a large electric saloon intended to fill the gap left in the lineup by the S90. While it does have a saloon-like shape, it makes some concessions to the demand for SUVs – most notably, its higher ride height and hatchback configuration.
Munford says fleet customers have been encouraged by the ES90’s launch: “We’ve obviously got a really strong SUV presence in our lineup at the moment, and that’s definitely been a real draw, particularly for fleet customers in in recent years.
“That said, the return of something in this shape has been really welcomed, and we’ve had some really positive feedback off the back of it already.
“People are certainly very drawn to this car as well, because it’s something that is probably a little bit different to what they’ve been used to.”
PHEV or EV?
PHEVs are increasingly seen – by fleets and drivers alike – as a stepping-stone towards EVs. Some now offer near-triple-digit electric ranges, allowing for most trips to be powered by electricity, with the ability to drive much further if needed.
Despite introducing more EVs, Volvo has not seen demand for its PHEV models drop off, as Munford explains: “We’ve got customers in different camps. We have certainly those that are the earlier adopters that are already in the full EVs and they’re in particularly now with such a broad range of with EX30, EX40 all the way through to EX90. Obviously, there’s ES90 now and we’ve recently launched EX60 as well, so we’ve got that real breadth. We’ve got something for everyone in that EV space.
“We still have really strong demand for our plug-in hybrids as well. And we haven’t seen that fall away at all as we’ve introduced these new fully electric models as well.
“There’s definitely still broad appeal for both.”
Barriers to fleet electrification
Fleets have had wide-ranging responses to electrification. For some – especially those with low daily mileages – it was love at first sight, while others remain determined to stick with petrol or PHEVs.
These barriers seem to be falling, though, as the technology improves.
Munford says: “Certainly, we’ve been overcoming range in the last couple of years, but particularly now with what we’re seeing with some of the new products coming through, obviously the ES90, which has got a really, really strong range and the ability to recharge very quickly as well.
“A lot of the feedback we’ve had on EX60 so far has been about that class leading range, over 500 miles. By now introducing the 800V technology that we’ve got on ES90, that’s obviously going to follow into EX60 and into the EX90 as well.
“That ability to be able to recharge quickly is taking away that additional barrier. Because that’s been something that I think has been a challenge and we’ve got that infrastructure to be able to do that much easier now.”
But as that barrier of range has fallen, another has been proposed in the form of the pay-per-mile eVED scheme.
It is still a few years off, but experts across the industry have warned that it risks throwing water on the EV transition, especially for fleets.
Munford takes a less pessimistic view: “Ultimately, we don’t know what that looks like yet. So our job really is to make sure that we’re doing the best that we possibly can in terms of sharing what all our products do for customers as opposed to getting drawn into what might be coming, because that’s not something that’s certain.
“We will absolutely be part of those conversations when it gets to a more mature stage. There are lots of really positive reasons still to buy a fully electric car or to lease a fully electric car as a business.
“From all of the different specification benefits that it brings, to being able to hop into a car in the morning which is nice and warm with no ice on the screen. Drivers obviously really like that.
“Then when you’re getting into the people setting the policies of the business, there’s obviously still some really significant financial reasons for making sure that you’ve got EVs on your fleet.
“But even a step further than that, sustainability is key. It’s really important to us at Volvo and more and more, we’re seeing it when we’re having conversations with fleets.
“Their choice of vehicle on fleet is definitely coming down to that as well. There’s a big shift that is continuing that area, particularly in the public sector space, but also in private as well.
“For all of these businesses that are looking to get to net zero, this is a fantastic way of being able to do it. So, lots of other incentives out there.”
LCV market entry
Volvo has recently made its first foray into the light commercial vehicle (LCV) market with the EX30 Cargo, a variant of its smallest electric car which is converted after production.
The EX30 Cargo was something of a no-brainer, Munford explains: “This was a really easy decision for us because we had lots of feedback from our larger customers that there was a demand in that space for this type of vehicle.
“We were keen to make sure that we produce something that really delivered on customer demand. We have spent about the last 12 months working on it, so we’ve had several customer working groups to be able to get their feedback, to share prototypes and information on what we’re trying to do.
“We’ve really allowed them to sort of be part of that journey and help guide the product. There’s a real demand in that space for that type of vehicle.”
While it may appear to be a relatively simple job to convert an EX30, Volvo’s work went far beyond binning the rear seats.
Munford says: “What we’ve also been able to do is make sure that it still hits all of the safety requirements that you’d expect from a Volvo as well. That’s really, really important for us. For example, we put the car through all of the same crash testing simulation that you would expect of any one of our passenger vehicles.
“Because this is a second-stage conversion, the vehicle arrives in the UK as a passenger car, we then convert it in the UK. We haven’t drilled any holes into the chassis at all, so we’ve used all existing anchor points.
“It’s a really nice, premium way of being able to do it and ultimately a very, very safe one too. We’ve been able to make sure that offer spans across a couple of different models as well.
“In the working groups, people were also very keen on the Cross Country, giving that additional ground clearance, so we’ve been able to produce a conversion that we can put onto the standard car and onto the Cross Country.
“It’s available across different specifications and different powertrains as well, which is really important because that gives people the option if they want to go for a slightly smaller battery. Or even less power as well, that’s also an option.”
Tailor-made vehicles
One of Volvo’s most visible UK fleet contracts is with the police. But the vehicles it provides are not off-the shelf XC90s and V90s. Volvo has a dedicated special vehicles team, which works with the police to tailor the vehicles to its needs.
Munford says that other fleets are also able to access this level of service: “We offer a very bespoke solution in this space. We have a special vehicles team that are based in the UK, but work with a special vehicles team that works centrally in Sweden as well, and we work with them to develop vehicles for police, fire, ambulance, airside, and anyone that needs anything that’s a little bit more bespoke.
“We’re already in that space, but I guess [the EX30 Cargo] is an opportunity for us to do something in much bigger volume than perhaps we’re doing with some of the smaller conversions at the moment.
“It just gives a blank sheet of paper for those businesses that need something that’s smaller and are used to doing their own conversions, we will produce that and give that to them be able to tailor to their own requirements.”
Volvo’s fleet USP
Those reports from 2023 that Volvo was going all in on SUVs now seem somewhat premature. While a far cry from its range some 20 years ago, which had saloons and estates of all sizes, as well as a hatchback and a convertible, the brand now has genuine variety that few others bother to offer.
Munford says: “From a product perspective, we really do have something for everyone within our product range. That’s what’s really key. We’ve got a variety of different SUVs, but also now the ES90 we’ve got, that really differentiates.
“We still got the V60 as well, so we’ve still got an estate model too. And it goes deeper than the products as well. It’s about the levels of specification that we offer as standard. That’s really, really important to fleet buyers that we have very high levels of specification as standard, because not all fleet drivers are able to add options to their vehicles.”
Brands like Kia and Geely have made significant in-roads in the mainstream market by offering generous levels of specification. It could now be Volvo’s way to set itself apart from the Germans, who have long had a policy of making everything an optional extra.
Munford says: “That’s really important to us, and we work really hard to make sure that we build that standard specification. On ES90, for example, you’ve got your panoramic roof, you’ve got a head-up display, Bose sound system, and even in the EX30, EX40, making sure we’ve got things like a heat pump as standard, which is really important.”
With a saloon back in the range, and the addition of a small LCV, Munford thinks that Volvo has something to offer almost all fleets.
He concludes: “Breadth of range now is probably our strongest asset, to be able to have something as small and nimble as an EX30, all the way through to EX90 and everything in between is a real strength. This is a really important year for us.”
