Douglas A. Bolduc

Volvo sees positive signs that indicate the chips shortage will improve in the second half, including a more consistent supply.

The latest instance came this week around an upgrade the Geely-owned, Sweden-based automakers made to their infotainment systems.

Instead of using aggressive tactics against suppliers, Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson believes automakers need to take more control over key components.

The automaker has begun the search for a new head of global commercial operations to replace an executive who has been with the company 38 years.

ZF will work with Polestar on ways to eliminate carbon emissions and save resources in the drive system. Autoliv will look to provide safety equipment such as airbags and seatbelts with zero emissions.

When it arrives in late 2024, the full-electric Polestar 5 will use an in-house developed bonded-aluminum platform. That is a change from the Polestar 2's shared CMA architecture, which is mostly steel with some aluminum.

The XC90, Volvo's No. 3-seller globally in 2021, is offered with a range of powertrains, including a plug-in hybrid variant that offers roughly 50 km of electric-only driving in combination with a gasoline engine.

Volvo's $1.1 billion investment to prepare its largest, oldest plant for EV era includes switching to time-, resource-saving megacasting for aluminum body parts.

The EV maker's CEO also discusses chip crisis and a big change made to the Volvo subsidiary's marketing in the U.S.

The automaker's Ride Pilot will be available as an add-on subscription on Volvo's forthcoming full-electric flagship SUV, which will go into production later this year at company's U.S. factory.

Few could have predicted that Samuelsson, who spent most of his four-decade-long automotive career at truck makers Scania and MAN, would have so much success leading a premium automaker.

The two Swedish companies will open a gigafactory in Europe with potential annual capacity of up to 50 gigawatt hours.

Despite setbacks, CEO Hakan Samuelsson told Automotive News Europe that setting a new sales record this year is "within reach."

Volvo gained 200,000 new shareholders even before trading of the automaker's shares started in Sweden. When asked how he felt about having that many new bosses, CEO Hakan Samuelsson said: "The more the merrier."

Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson and CFO Bjorn Annwall outlined the next steps in the automaker's push to become a publicly trade company.