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Volvo wants Brits to try these self-driving cars in London

Swedish carmaker Volvo on Wednesday announced it would give self-driving cars to ordinary Britons to test on the streets of London in 2017.

Published: 27 April 2016 14:04 CEST
Volvo wants Brits to try these self-driving cars in London
A Volvo XC90 Drive Me test vehicle near Gothenburg. Photo: Volvo

Initially, the so-called autonomous driving (AD) cars would be semi-autonomous with plans to test a more advanced driverless version in 2018, the company said in a statement.

“Drive Me London will begin in early 2017 with a limited number of semi-autonomous driving cars and expand in 2018 to include up to 100 AD cars, making it the largest and most extensive AD testing programme on Britain's streets,” it said.

The self-driving, semi-autonomous cars will take passengers to their destinations of choice without human intervention unless conditions become too dangerous because of bad weather, Volvo said.

Volvo engineers began supervised tests in Gothenburg in 2014, where the company has its headquarters. Next year, Volvo will give a limited number of semi AD cars to the public in Gothenburg to test.

The cars receive data through a 360-degree camera system, GPS and other sensors which act as eyes and ears to navigate safely and avoid collisions.

But the introduction of self-driving cars raises legal questions, particularly around liability, which today always lies with the driver.

Volvo, Google, Ford, Uber and its ride-sharing rival Lyft are founding members of the Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets. The group is pushing for a unified US legal code on self-driving cars to help promote the technology.

Volvo, which is 100-percent owned by Chinese manufacturer Geely, is also looking for partners for Chinese cities to expand its testing into the largest car market in the world.

Volvo said self-driving cars would improve transport times and driver comfort, and reduce traffic jams, pollution and accidents.

VOLVO

Sweden’s Volvo regains strength after pandemic puts brakes on earnings

Swedish truck maker Volvo Group was hit by a sharp drop in earnings due to the coronavirus pandemic, but business rebounded at the end of the year.

Published: 3 February 2021 12:21 CET
Sweden's Volvo regains strength after pandemic puts brakes on earnings
Volvo Group CEO Martin Lundstedt. Photo: Adam Ihse/TT

In 2020, the group saw “dramatic fluctuations in demand” due to the Covid-19 pandemic, chief executive Martin Lundstedt said in a statement.

For 2021, Volvo raised its sales forecasts in its trucks division – its core business – in Europe, North America and Brazil.

However, it said it also expected “production disturbances and increased costs” due to a “strained” supply chain, noting a global shortage of semiconductors across industries.

The truck making sector is particularly sensitive to the global economic situation and is usually hard hit during crises.

In March, as the pandemic took hold around the world, Volvo suspended operations at most of its sites in 18 countries and halted production at Renault Trucks, which it owns, in Belgium and France.

Operations gradually resumed mid-year, but not enough to compensate for the drop in earnings.

With annual sales down 22 percent to 338 billion kronor (33.4 billion euros, $40 billion), the group posted a 46 percent plunge in net profit to 19.3 billion kronor (1.9 billion euros).

Operating margin fell from 11.5 to 8.1 percent.

However, the group did manage to cut costs by 20 percent.

“We have significantly improved our volume and cost flexibility, which were crucial factors behind our earnings resilience in 2020,” the group said.

Volvo's business regained strength in the second half of the year.

“Customer usage of trucks and machines increased when the Covid-19 restrictions were eased during the summer and this development continued during both the third and fourth quarters,” it said.

“Both the transport activity and the construction business are back at levels on par with the prior year in most markets.”

For the fourth quarter alone, the company reported a 38-percent rise in net profit from a year earlier.

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