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by rsync 3270 days ago
From the article:

"Today’s announcement shows how quickly the market is shifting as Volvo prepares to replace gasoline- and diesel-only models with a mix of full-electric, plug-in hybrid and 48-volt mild hybrid variants starting in two years."

Translation: Sometime in the forever-three-years-from-now future we will offer our existing cars in half-assed hybrid form (loud, high vibration 3 and 4 cylinder ICE with 16-18 mile electric only range and no center of gravity benefits since there won't be a "skateboard" design) and we will begin to offer one or two cutesy little electric only vehicles, on a new platform that won't be sold in the US.

We've seen this same press release over and over from BMW/Merc/Audi/etc. - always the same 3 year horizon, always the same mild-hybrid flavors of existing models, and always the same oddball electric model (i3, Merc B series).

Volvo had over ten years to respond to Prius and the market and consumer signals it was clearly showing. Volvo has had five years to respond to Tesla (who erode their highest margin vehicles and represents a big chunk of their consumer base in the US). What did they do with all of that time ? They released a brand new fleet of vehicles with beautiful exterior styling and laughable little ICEs inside (and some token mild hybrid models).