As part of a broader automotive industry trend, Volvo announced that all of its new models will have electric motors from 2019.

The Swedish automaker, owned by China’s Geely Holding Group since 2010, said it plans to launch five electric models between 2019 and 2021, along with a range of hybrids. It will also continue to manufacture older models with combustion engines only. “This announcement marks the end of the solely combustion engine-powered car,” said Hakan Samuelsson, Chief Executive of Volvo Cars. “People increasingly demand electrified cars, and we want to respond to our customers’ current and future needs.” Samuelsson joined Volvo as its top executive in 2012.

Volvo is not alone, as much of the automotive industry is moving towards electrification. Geely has steadily rolled ahead with electric car (EV) development for over a decade. The multinational automotive group aims to sell one million EVs by 2025, according to the BBC. Calling the announcement from Volvo a “headline grabber,” analyst Tim Urquhart pointed out that many other manufacturers are doing the same. “The announcement is significant, and quite impressive, but only in a small way”, he said.

With its entrenched status and affordability, the internal combustion engine is not going anywhere soon. However, emissions regulations are getting much stricter, and carmakers are developing fully-electric models in response. But making mass market EVs that are affordable and have the performance levels consumers want is a costly, research-intensive endeavour. Further, convincing large numbers of consumers to switch to electric cars may prove a challenge in itself.

As an interim solution, many carmakers are pursuing hybridisation, which entails fitting electric motors to cars that also have conventional engines. This lowers emissions while leaving performance intact. Hybrids are becoming an increasingly viable option, as many different kinds of hybrid systems are now available.

Volvo’s announcement follows the recent announcement from American electric car company Tesla that it will start delivering its first mass-market car, the Model 3, in late July. Founder and CEO Elon Musk said the company is on track to make 20,000 Model 3 cars a month by December. Since its founding in 2003, Tesla has disrupted the US car industry, and accelerated the race to bring electric cars to the mass market worldwide.

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