Geely-owned Volvo Cars is launching a new mobility brand – ‘M’ – which it says will expand the company’s global mobility operations by providing dependable, on-demand access to cars and services through an intuitive app.
The new brand will debut in Sweden and the US in the spring of 2019. The move follows the launch by Volvo Cars of subscription product ‘Care by Volvo’, which also addresses new ways for customers to access Volvos.
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“Volvo Cars is becoming more than just a car company. We recognise that urban consumers are rethinking traditional car ownership. M is part of our answer. We are evolving to become a direct-to-consumer services provider under our new mission ‘Freedom to Move’,” said Håkan Samuelsson, Volvo Cars President and Chief Executive.
M is developing ‘proprietary learning technology’ that asks users about their specific needs instead of merely informing them where they can pick up a car.
“The services currently available mainly offer alternatives to a taxi or public transit,” said Bodil Eriksson, CEO of Volvo Car Mobility. “We’re focused on the way people use the cars they own, which sets us apart. We aim to provide a real alternative to that experience. It should enable us to live life on our terms, getting things done and maximising precious time. We see the opportunity to offer a premium experience.”
In addition to a team of digital software engineers, Volvo says M draws on 20 years of learnings and data from Sunfleet, Volvo Car Group’s car-sharing operation. Sunfleet is the leading car-sharing company in Sweden, with 500,000 annual transactions and a fleet of 1,700 cars. It will be fully integrated into M in 2019, making the service available to all existing Sunfleet members.
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By GlobalData“Mobility is undergoing a fundamental transformation, and Volvo Cars is leading that change. The launch of M creates new sources of revenue for Volvo Cars and will be integral to the company’s ambition to build more than five million direct consumer relationships by the middle of the next decade,” said Samuelsson.
“Stockholm, Sweden, will serve as M’s base of development and where we already conduct extensive testing. A broader Beta test will take place this autumn,” said Ms Eriksson.
Further information about the M service will be released later this year.
