Interview with Joanne Machin, Director Global Major Accounts at Volvo Fleet & Business Sales

We recently caught up with Joanne Machin, Director Global Major Accounts at Volvo Fleet & Business Sales and asked her about the key topics under discussion with fleet operators and Volvo's future strategy in an evolving European market.

Volvo recently revealed the electric EX90. Can you tell us about it and if you think it will attract the fleet audience?

The new Volvo EX90  is exciting to reveal – not just because it is a fantastic car, but because it marks the beginning of a new era for Volvo Cars where we shift from hardware to software. This is our first car built on an electric-only architecture.

This car takes our approach to safety to the next level with a lidar, a driver understanding and an occupant sensing systems – all standard. We know this is very important to our long-term business partners when considering us for their Fleet policy.

Volvo EX90 also introduces flush design as a distinctive design language. It sublimates the new, modern electric proportion in a premium, fine way but stays true to Scandinavian Design where form follows function.

Another interesting feature for our fleet drivers is the contextual user experience – smartly removing complexity for focused, safe and enjoyable driving. The Volvo EX90 UX will show you the content you need – when you need it.

Since we know many fleet drivers use the car not just for work but also for family life – we believe that the level of modularity and versatility will be much appreciated. We know there are many ways to enjoy a 7 seater fully electric SUV, also offering a roomy trunk – both for personal use, or driving for a business.

What are Volvo Cars’  best-selling fleet models across Europe and does popularity of vehicles change from country to country? 

Yes, it varies from country by country. The most popular models so far are XC90, XC60, XC40 and V60. We see a strong demand for our plug-in hybrids and a robust increase in the demand for our fully electric cars. Last year, we introduced the fully electric cross over; C40 which we also see a fast increase of volumes month by month. With our latest vehicle, the fully electric Volvo EX90, we widen our electric portfolio in a segment where we know there is a big interest from executive Company car drivers.

Mobility is a key topic with many of FL's clients, is Volvo providing a solution to the European market? 

Volvo Cars aims to be the fastest transformer in the automotive industry which of course include flexible mobility services. We offer flexible solutions to both private and fleet customers. The offer slightly varies per country but essentially we offer mobility including service and warranty with flexible timelines – For Volvo Cars, where people is at the heart of everything that we do, it is about understanding what people and companies want and need in their daily life and business.

Looking at the near future, we are working hard to harness the benefits of digital, online solutions together with the very best of retailer support, to enhance and bring efficiencies to the varied fleet customer journeys. We offer several ways of doing business with us. Both online and offline – based on the customer needs.

What is Volvo Cars’ powertrain strategy and are there new products about to be launched, and into which markets? 

Today, all our cars have an electrified version be it Plug-in Hybrid or full electric. We plan to become a fully electric car company by 2030 – by then we aim for all our new cars to be pure electric. 

We revealed the popular fully electric XC40 in 2020, the fully electric Crossover C40 in 2021. In November this year, our new flagship fully electric SUV  - the Volvo EX90 was revealed.

Looking ahead, we plan to reveal one new fully electric car per year until 2025 so we meet our commitment to become a fully electric car company by 2030.

That said, I would like to emphasize that our fully electric offer is just one part of our ambitious sustainability ambitions. We plan to be climate-neutral by 2040 and be a circular business by 2040. A concrete example of how this is materialised in our daily business is that the Volvo EX90 comes with highest content of recycled plastics and bio-based materials in a Volvo car to date. Equally, we take a deliberate, no-compromise approach when selecting materials. We know we share our passion for safety and sustainability with our long term business partners.

How has the global shortage of semi-conductors impacted on sales in 2022 and how long does Volvo expect the current situation to continue? 

For Volvo Cars, manufacturing output continued to improve in the third quarter, compared to the previous quarter. However, unforeseen factors like heatwave and Covid-19 related lockdowns in China slowed down the pace of normalisation we were anticipating. But we expect the improved production run rate to continue into the fourth quarter and into 2023, provided there are no further major supply chain disturbances. 

There has been a lot of recent discussion about EV safety compared to ICE vehicles. Can you tell us about Volvo's approach?

Safety is in our DNA. Volvo Cars has been a leader in the field of car safety for decades. That will never change. It’s our vision that no one should be seriously injured or killed in a new Volvo car. With the new Volvo EX90 we enter a new era of safety and prepare for a safe introduction of unsupervised autonomous driving. All Volvo car models have been awarded top ratings in global safety ratings, including the latest car introduced on the road: the fully electric C40.

Which key differentiators or assets are driving Volvo Cars’ rise across European fleets?

To be successful in today’s Fleet business environment you need to be clear in what you believe in (and work for) as a brand, deliver personal world-class support to Fleet decision makers and offer cars that appeal to the audience in design, drivability, connectivity, safety and electrification. Right now, we are humble but happy to say that we can deliver all of this.

But we never rest, we constantly strive to make our customer experience  - online or offline - as premium as our products are. I personally think that the rise is because we focus on what is important for fleet decision makers (plus partners and stakeholders such as leasing and car rental companies) and crucially, how we appeal to user-chooser drivers too.

In the international Fleet team at Volvo that I lead, and in the Fleet teams in our National Sales Companies, our business-to-business approach is focused on simplifying the daily working life for Fleet decision makers and their drivers. We have a long-standing experience of serving truly international fleet (since 1986).

Building on Volvo Cars history of being forward thinking, we will continue to put our customers needs at the heart of everything we do, to become the trusted long term partner, whilst retaining flexibility, transparency and being easy to deal with.