Volvo Cars starts production of the new Volvo S60 and V60 Polestar

The first Volvo S60 and V60 Polestar cars have left the Volvo Torslanda factory plant on their way to customers around the world as production has begun.

"We are very happy to see the first ever complete production cars from Polestar be built in the Volvo factory. It is a satisfying result of many hours of work by the people of Polestar and Volvo behind this," said Henrik Fries, S/V60 Polestar Technical Project Manager.

The Volvo factory in Torslanda celebrated 50 years recently with a total of over 6.8 million cars having been produced, starting with the Amazon model in 1964 and all the way to the new S60 and V60 Polestar today. The Polestar model also marks the first ever independent partner being introduced to the production process.

"We are delighted to see the first cars leave the factory and it has been an exciting journey together with Polestar to see these cars from the drawing board until the actual finalized product being produced with us on the factory line," said Magnus Hellsten, Vice President Car Manufacturing Europe at Volvo Cars.

A total of 750 cars will be produced of the S60 and V60 Polestar model this year, heading to customers in Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the USA.

"It is an exciting process as there are many new and unique Polestar components that needs to work seamlessly in the Volvo factory without interrupting the production of other models. It was a truly proud moment to see the first Polestar blue cars on the production line together with the XCV70, S80 and other models. The cooperation with Volvo works really well and we are looking forward to an exciting future together," said Fries.

The new Volvo S60 and V60 Polestar features a thoroughly developed chassis with high performance dampers and brakes which in combination with four-wheel drive and 350 hp from a turbo charged 6-cylinder engine creates a driver's car for all year.

Visit www.nextpolestar.com for more information.

Volvo Car Group in 2013

For the 2013 financial year, Volvo Car Group recorded an operating profit of 1,919 MSEK (66 MSEK in 2012). Revenue over the period amounted to 122,245 MSEK (124,547 MSEK), while net income amounted to 960 MSEK (-542 MSEK). Global retail sales for the year amounted to 427,840 (421,951) cars, an increase of 1.4 per cent compared to 2012. The operating profit was the result of cost control and strong sales and was further tangible proof of Volvo Car Group's progress in implementing its transformation plan. For the full year 2014, the company expects to stay in black figures and predicts to record a global sales increase of a good 5 per cent.

About Volvo Car Group

Volvo has been in operation since 1927. Today, Volvo Cars is one of the most well-known and respected car brands in the world with sales of 427,000 in 2013 in about 100 countries. Volvo Cars has been under the ownership of the Zhejiang Geely Holding (Geely Holding) of China since 2010. It formed part of the Swedish Volvo Group until 1999, when the company was bought by Ford Motor Company of the US. In 2010, Volvo Cars was acquired by Geely Holding.

As of December 2013, Volvo Cars had over 23,000 employees worldwide. Volvo Cars head office, product development, marketing and administration functions are mainly located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Cars head office for China is located in Shanghai. The company's main car production plants are located in Gothenburg (Sweden), Ghent (Belgium) and Chengdu (China), while engines are manufactured in Skövde (Sweden) and Zhangjiakou (China).