Volvo cars merger with the Hong Kong-listed Geely Automobile will be further extending to Geely having major shareholding. The IPO is not announced but considered a potential listing and is set to evaluate capital market options, stock market listing, and an initial public offering.
For more than a year, start-ups often look out for the options to be listed publicly. Each day the rise and fall of such electric vehicle startups can be observed. However, Volvo Cars weren’t listed publicly despite being in the car industry for 94 years.
Their public listing won’t affect their merger or other partnership. Geely and Volvo will continue to share internal power combustion, vehicle architects, and other components. But being an independent company has its own benefits, and plans to work at an arm’s length distance. Recently they announced their plans to have LiDAR sensors in XC90 SUV by next year.
Håkan Samuelsson, chief executive of Volvo Cars, said, “A potential listing on the Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchange could create an opportunity for global investors to participate in our journey to become a leader in the fast-growing premium and intelligent electric vehicle segment while continuing to deliver on what customers expect from the Volvo brand,”
Its Full potential for electrification
Besides their evaluation of potential public listing, Volvo has been working on electrification differently. As its competitors are ahead in electrification, Volvo has plans to have present customers and gain more customers.
The Swedish luxury sports car brand mentions their plans to include insurance and vehicle subscription plans for their cars. As said by Samuelsson, “The whole vehicle business will be recurring revenue,”
Eric Li, Chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding, the parent of Volvo Cars, and Chairman of its Board of Directors, said, “We have supported the transformation and growth of Volvo Cars for the last 10 years, enabling the company to become a true premium brand with improved profitability.”
Further added, “As we look ahead, Volvo Cars is especially well-positioned to deliver continued growth and harness the full potential of electrification and the delivery of safe autonomous drive functions. After a potential listing, Geely Holding would remain a major shareholder.”
In Europe, Volvo will be selling its car directly to customers without any dealership. The existing laws protect the dealers in the US, so they continue to supply their cars to dealers. They have been working on developing partnerships and alliances as they are shifting to electric vehicles. Along with their Swedish battery-making partner Northvolt, they are working on a new generation battery with a longer range (625 km) and faster charging time. As they plan to add more models to their electric vehicles fleet, the development of technology continues.
