Volvo Cars (www.volvogroup.com) says it is aiming for fully electric cars to make up 50% of its sales by 2025.

This announcement builds on the company’s 2017 statement that all new models released from 2019 will be available as either a ‘mild hybrid’, plug-in hybrid or battery-electric vehicle.

The strategy to generate half of its sales from electric cars by 2025 is intended to position Volvo as a “powerful player” in China — the world’s leading market for electrified cars.

The Chinese government plans to have ‘new energy’ vehicles account for more than 20% of the country’s annual car sales by 2025; this equates to more than 7 million vehicles, based on Chinese government forecasts.

Håkan Samuelsson, president and CEO of Volvo Cars (pictured), said: “Last year, we made a commitment to electrification in preparation for an era beyond the internal combustion engine.

"Today, we reinforce and expand that commitment in the world’s leading market for electrified cars. China’s electric future is Volvo Cars’ electric future.”

Volvo Cars currently produces the S90 and S90L T8 Twin Engine in China; the company started production of the XC60 T8 Twin Engine there at the end of April.

This means that soon, all three of Volvo Cars’ China plants — Luqiao, Chengdu and Daqing — will produce either plug-in hybrid or battery-electric cars.

At the recent Beijing Auto Show, all the models displayed by Volvo Cars were plug-in hybrid vehicles.

China is the company’s largest individual market; it achieved a 23.3% first-quarter sales increase there this year, contributing to its first-quarter global sales growth of 14%.

Volvo car sales in China last year passed the 100,000 mark for the first time.