Volvo expands upon positive Google experience

Volvo Cars' technology chief, Henrik Green, believes that the Android-based infotainment system that the automaker developed with Google is one of the best on the market.

So, after the system launched in Volvo's first full-electric car, the XC40 Recharge, and the Polestar 2, Green and his team wanted answers to two questions:

1. How do we scale this to add it to more cars in the Geely Group?
2. Can we efficiently scale it beyond the Geely Group?

The answer to both questions was, yes, but Volvo would need a partner, which is why it set up a joint venture with Chinese technology company ECARX.

Green said the most important benefit from the partnership for Volvo is that it will be able to rapidly scale its current and future software-driven solutions, speeding up their introductions.

When asked for an example, Green said Volvo was able to scale the XC40 Recharge's infotainment system to its recently debuted C40 Recharge in less than a year. By comparison, he said it took Volvo three years to develop the infotainment system from scratch.

He conceded that the two cars are "extremely similar," but emphasized that the example shows the potential available to rapidly expand new technology throughout Volvo's lineup.

The JV will be able to offer a similar benefit to sibling brands also controlled by Volvo's owner, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, as well as third parties.

Green said that another partner stands to gain from the expansion of the infotainment system.

"If you look at it from Google's perspective, I would imagine that this will reduce their complexity," Green said. "They can work with one team and reach a larger portion of the car industry through fewer interfaces."

ECARX, which was co-founded in 2016 by Volvo Chairman Li Shufu, currently develops and integrates Android-based infotainment systems in China for Volvo's sister brands Geely Auto, Lynk & CO and Proton.

Green, who was promoted to Volvo's top management team in 2016, has been working for years to turn the automaker's R&D arm into a software development company. He thinks the partnership with ECARX is help.

"With this team, the platform gets more users. Therefore, we can attract more people working with more car models," Green said. "This is definitely a cornerstone in our strategic transformation in growing our vertical integration to become a software company."