Volvo's latest auto architecture set for Daqing

Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson (left) and Han Xuejian, Party secretary of Daqing city, start Volvo's production of the new platform.

Volvo Car Corp announced it will soon introduce its latest modular platform at its Daqing plant in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, part of an $11 billion multi-year research and development program.

The decision came after the first model built on its Scalable Product Architecture rolled off the assembly line in September in Sweden. The Daqing plant will be Volvo's first overseas manufacturing facility to adopt the platform.

The automaker said some 60 percent of its upcoming models will be based on the platform known as SPA.

It will enable about 40 percent of parts to be interchangeable and enable ease in adding sophisticated functions. The architecture allows rapid adoption of new technology in fast-moving areas such as microprocessors, sensors and camera technology, according to the company.

"It is very important that we introduce SPA into our Daqing plant as it will lay a solid foundation for our future growth in the Chinese market," said Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson in a press conference at the plant.

He said Volvo sold more than 65,000 vehicles in China in the first 10 months this year, nearly 36 percent more than the same period of the year previous. He expects sales to reach 80,000 units by the end of 2014.

Samuelsson said the decision to introduce the platform into China is also an important step in Volvo's campaign to double its market share in the country's luxury vehicle segment to 10 percent in five to seven years.

He said the first model to be produced on the new platform in Daqing will be a large sedan that will hit the market in 2016, showing that vehicles produced in China will be the same as those produced in Europe as "quality is absolutely crucial" for Volvo.

Michael Ning, Volvo Car China's vice-president for corporate communications, said the model will come as a rival of large luxury sedans such as the Audi A6 and BMW's 7 series, adding its arrival will enrich Volvo's portfolio of locally produced vehicles and further sharpen its competitiveness.

Volvo is now mass-producing three models in China - the mid-sized S60L sedan and SUV at its Chengdu plant and the large SUV XC Classic in Daqing. The company said some of its locally produced models will be exported to the United States and other markets.

China has already become Volvo's largest market worldwide. The company has set a goal of selling 200,000 vehicles a year in the Chinese market "in the long run", a quarter of its anticipated annual global sales.

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