Despite an aggressive campaign ongoing for more than a year to market Volvo’s compact all-electric SUV in the United States, the Swedish-based company said today that it will delay introduction of the EX30 until next year.
Russell Datz, a Volvo spokesman, said in an email that the on-sale date of the EX30 is “due to changes in the global automotive landscape.” Datz also attributed the delay to a “ramp up of production at our plant in Ghent, Belgium, with a 2025 target delivery date to be announced.’’
Volvo though its own channels began taking pre-orders for the 2025 EX30 after it was introduced formally just year ago; the anticipated U.S. price was announced at that time as starting at $36,145, including an $1,195 destination charge
Datz added that Volvo “will offer customers with existing preorders several options to drive a new Volvo until their EX30 arrives.’’ No specifics about that, so stay tuned.
“Importantly, we remain committed to bringing EX30 to the US and are working hard to get it into customer hands,” he said. It “remains a cornerstone of Volvo Cars’ ongoing strategic transformation and reflects our ambition to build cars where we sell them as much as possible.” The EX30 is now sold in European markets.
During a conference call with dealers today, Volvo executives suggested that the move to shift assembly to Belgium and away from China was an effect of the “geopolitical” situation. Reading between the lines, one might assume that recent moves by the Biden administration to impose high tariffs on cars imported here from China might’ve motivated the shift.
Deliveries of the EX30 to the States was first expected earlier this year. Volvo said it would be offered with two powertrain options, both of which rely on a 69-kilowatt-hour cobalt-lithium-manganese-nickel composite battery, 64 kWh of which is usable. The base model, called Single Motor Extended Range, will have a rear-wheel-drive layout and produce 268 horsepower and 253 pound-feet of torque. Volvo expects this version to have a range of 275 miles on the U.S. EPA test cycle.