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All Volvo S90 sedan production moving to China (!)

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Yes… Volvo has announced that the production of the all new S90 sedan will move from Sweden to China.
Claiming the Swedish factory cannot produced enough cars. (The S90 has a 4 month waiting list in some European countries)
But they are not adding production to China to help the Swedish factory meet high demand. They are just moving the whole thing there…
ALL S90s will be made in China. And exported back the Europe and the US as well.

I can’t help but feeling a little sad about this. Of course, since Geely bought Volvo a few years ago, we all knew this would happen some day.

Geely has also announced that 2 new factories will also build the current model of the S60. As well as the all new S60 and V60 due out next year.
And a 3rd Chinese factory will build the all new S40 and XC40 compact models.

They have not said if the S60 and S40 will still be built in Sweden as well, or if all the production is moving to China.

It looks like Sweden could only be making the XC90 and XC60 in Sweden soon.
And for how long? Is this the beginning of the end for all Swedish made Volvos?

Like I said, predictable, but sad…

Conversation 6 comments

  1. Way to shoot yourself in the foot after spending all that time and money to finally produce modern, competitive luxury vehicles. Sales of the Buick EEnvision seem to prove that Americans don't have any problem buying Chinese-built vehicles, but I'm not so sure about Europeans.. Swedes in particular.

  3. What they actually said was that the long wheelbase version of the S90 will be made in China, as well as the Excellence version, which probably also has a long wheelbase. They will keep making the regular S90 (which is almost 200 inches long) in Sweden.

    China is the main market for extended-wheelbase chauffeur-driven sedans. Americans don't buy them, and Europeans don't either. They will export a few, but it's a very limited market outside of China.

    They will also make other models in China, but that doesn't mean they won't make them in Europe as well. Audi, BMW and Mercedes already make lots of cars in China, this is nothing new.

  4. This is a surpising move. Yes, we all knew it would happen, when Geely bouth Volvo cars. But I somehow felt that at least production of their larger models would remain in Sweden, because of the prestige that comes along.
    I guess the XC90 will follow next, because it uses the platform and many components of the S90. The S40 might be built in Belgium, so what´s left for the Swedish people, except for the ageing XC60? It is a sad story. This summer, I was in Trollhättan, where all Saabs were built. Anyone with a heart and a passion for cars gets depressive there within seconds. I really hope for a better future for Gothenburg.

  5. To Les.
    Wrong.
    The production of ALL S90 models is moving to China, not just the LWB version:

    "Volvo will move production of its flagship S90 sedan to China from Sweden and export the car to global markets including Europe and the US from its factory in Daqing"

    It's all going to China.

  6. Vince,

    "a limited number of S90s will be made in Sweden in the future"

    Not all.

    If you look at the video on AN Europe, they are talking about the flagship version of the S90, which has champagne flute holders in the back (as opposed to cup holders). That car was only ever going to sell in China anyway.

    They also explain that they are currently near maximum capacity in their two European plants thanks to record sales, and that they will invest to add an extra 110,000 units of production is Sweden by 2020.

    Volvo's biggest growth region is China, that's where they will expand manufacturing capacity. It's no different from what BMW, VW-Audi, Mercedes and (especially) GM have been doing for the past 20 years.

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