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Volvo S90 Production Moving to China, Other 90 Series Models Remain in Sweden

Beyond the act of waxing lyrical about this and that, the automotive industry is an unforgiving place. This sector is, for all intents and purposes, viciously competitive. And in this hard knock business environment, globalization is a means of survival.
Volvo S90 production in China at Daqing plant 27 photos
Photo: Volvo
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The most recent and best-known example of globalization is how Buick decided to make the Envision in China. That’s right, ladies and gents! GM’s compact luxury crossover is imported into the United States. After Buick, Volvo is the next passenger car manufacturer to make such a move.

A Volvo spokesperson told autoevolution that the XC90, V90, and V90 Cross Country would continue to be built at the Torslanda plant in Sweden. The S90, including the U.S.- and Euro-spec models, is going to move production to China in the near future. The question is, why did Volvo do it?

The answer will come as a surprise to some of you. This decision comes courtesy of rising demand for the S90 on a global level. Considering that Volvo’s plant in Sweden now makes four different models (XC90 crossover, S90 sedan, V90 wagon, and V90 Cross Country), this facility is nearing its maximum annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles. The Daqing plant is relatively new and it had a production capacity of 80,000 vehicles per year in 2014.

“China will play an increasingly important part in our global manufacturing ambitions. Our factories here will deliver world-class products for export across the globe in coming years, contributing to our objective of selling up to 800,000 cars a year by 2020,” declared Volvo's Hakan Samuelsson.

Vector in Volvo’s 2020 goal of selling 800,000 cars per year and it all becomes very easy to understand why the manufacturer took this decision. Beyond Torslanda and Daqing, Volvo’s passenger vehicles division also operates a manufacturing facility located in Gent, Belgium. Whereas Torslanda will focus on SPA-based vehicles (i.e. the 90 series and next-gen 60 series), Gent will handle production of CMA-based nameplates (next-gen XC40, V40, and S40).

Volvo highlights that part of the 60 series production will be handled by the Chengdu plant in China. On that note, part of the 40 Series production will be taken over by a plant in Luqiao, a Chinese district where Volvo Cars’ parent company has its biggest manufacturing base. Also in Luqiao, Geely’s brand Lynk & Co will manufacture the production version of the 01 Concept.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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