Volvo Building Two New Factories in Sweden

VolvoVolvoSweden, 1927 > present49 models
4535 photos
6 videos
has announced plans to upgrade several factories in Sweden to build its next generation of cars. The expansion will represent about a third of all of Volvo's investment through 2015. Upgrades to the Torslanda and Olofström factory will be responsible for Volvo's new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) in the second half of 2013, and the other will be for its new engines. The first model to take advantage of these new technologies will be the next generation XC90Volvo XC90Sweden, 2002 > 201355 versions
67 photos
at the end of 2014. 

The SPA follows VW'sVolkswagenGermany, 1938 > present98 models
9654 photos
31 videos
lead with the MQB platform by creating a modular platform that allows it to build many vehicles at once. The platform is made from a group of modules that can be applied or removed to different vehicles. It allows for about 40% of all Volvos' parts to be shared. 

Volvo is also planning a new four-cylinder engine family that will be built in an upgraded factory in Skövde and assembled at its Torslanda factory. The new engine family will accept hybrid versions from the start. 

"Almost half of the approximately $11 billion investments covering the years 2011 to 2015 will be spent in Sweden in the form of infrastructure for the new vehicle architecture and engine family," said Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson.

Volvo is predicting that the new architecture will cover two-thirds of total sales by 2015.