Volvo launches its very first minivan
- While the minivan (MPV) market is gradually disappearing in Europe and the United States (150,000 sales in Europe in 2022 compared to 2,300,000 in 2006 and 250,000 sales in the USA in 2022 compared to 1,300,000 in 2006), and it has also fallen significantly in China, going from 2,300,000 in 2016 to just under 1,000,000 in 2022, the carmaker Volvo (a subsidiary of Geely) is launching its very first minivan in 2023.
- Volvo had been known since the 1960s for its large station wagons and had never marketed MVPs. Since its integration into the Chinese group Geely, Volvo has gained a small market share in China (nearly 1%), a country which – as we have seen – still appreciates MPVs and especially the large ones. Indeed, these vehicles are often used by companies for their employees or partners journeys.
- The new Volvo EM90 minivan is therefore basically a pure Geely product intended mainly for the Chinese market. Indeed, the vehicle uses the SEA (Sustainable Electric Architecture) platform and the body of the Zeekr 009 minivan, the Zeekr brand being part of the Geely group.
- The Volvo EM90 is therefore a battery electric vehicle which measures 5.21 m long by 2.02 m wide and 1.86 m high, and weighs nearly 2.8 tonnes, like the Zeekr 009. The Volvo is however less powerful than the Zeekr 009, the Zeekr brand being at the very top of the hierarchy of Geely group brands. The Volvo EM90 is equipped with a 200 kW or 272 hp electric motor (400 kW or 544 hp on the Zeekr) and by a 116 kWh batteries.