Warehouse in Ridgeville, SC

RIDGEVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - A new hybrid car is making its way to the Volvo Ridgeville production line.

The Swedish car manufacturing company celebrates 70 years of cars driving on American roads this year.

Volvo leaders, along with county and state government officials, including Gov. Henry McMaster and U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, celebrated the company’s milestone as well as new investments in South Carolina.

The new XC60 mid-size SUV will be on the production line of the Ridgeville plant after a decade since its opening.

Company leaders are working to fulfill multiple goals with the new addition. Volvo Chief Industrial Officer Francesca Gamboni says the plant currently produces less than 5% of the company’s volume in the United States. Gamboni says the aim is for the plant to produce more than 50% of the national volume by 2030. The addition of the SUV puts the plant one step forward in achieving the goal.

Gamboni says adding the new model will help bring the plant’s production to the full capacity of 150,000 cars a year.

The production would double the number of jobs to 4,000 as part of the investment’s impact in the state.

“We’ll obviously be much closer to our customers, so we’ll be more reactive, more flexible,” Gamboni says. “And obviously, we can also look within localizing our supply and looking at finding partners and suppliers that can support us in the parts.”

Volvo President and CEO Håkan Samuelsson says the company is aiming for majority of global sales to be both electric and plug-in hybrid electric models by 2030.

“We will come out stronger as an electric company after this transformation that will happen,” Samuelsson says. “That’s why we need to be pragmatic and have these types of plug-in or breach solutions. Not just one generation, but we need the second generation to breach also.”

The hybrid vehicle is expected to roll out on the production line in 18 months.

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The automaker has invested $1.3 billion in its South Carolina factory since 2015, and said it will continue to invest in the plant to bring the 2.3 million square foot facility into operational capacity. The plant’s current capacity is 150,000 vehicles a year.

Volvo said it sold over 27,000 XC60s in the U.S. in the first eight months of this year, a nearly 20% jump from the same period in 2024, so demand for the mid-size SUV remains strong.

Currently, the plant in Ridgeville, South Carolina, assembles two models, the fully electric EX90 SUV and Polestar 3. Previously, the plant built the S60 sedan, but it was discontinued last year amid sluggish sales. Volvo sold 903 S60s in the U.S. this year through the end of August, a 92% decline from the same period last year.

Volvo’s plan to build more vehicles in the U.S. is in line with the company’s strategic initiative to ensure that each region has the products it needs to meet customer demands, according to the release. It includes a more focused approach in terms of product, technology, manufacturing and commercial to better meet the needs of its customers.

“Our investment plans once again reinforce our long-term commitment to the U.S. market and our manufacturing operations in South Carolina,” said Håkan Samuelsson, Volvo Cars’ CEO, in a statement.

Samuelsson previously served as CEO of the company from 2012 to 2022. In March, Volvo Cars announced he was returning to his former role as CEO and president for a two-year term effective April 1. His return will help the automaker navigate “fast-moving technological shifts” and “growing geopolitical complexity,” the company said at the time.

While company executives didn’t disclose details on Volvo’s next-generation hybrid model, Samuelsson hinted that it’s likely to be some type of full-size, hybrid SUV, a segment that’s popular with U.S. consumers.

“This is a bigger size car for primarily for America,” Samuelsson said during a media roundtable with company executives at its South Carolina factory on Sept. 23. “It should [have] room for big families and the luggage and everything they bring, so you could imagine what type of car.”

Samuelsson also said Volvo’s new hybrid vehicles will serve as a “bridge” towards its goal of producing only EVs sometime after 2030, which is later than its initial target of ending ICE vehicle production by 2030. The plans were revised due to slower-than-expected EV adoption, which also led to other automakers revising their short to mid-term electrification goals to meet growing consumer demand for hybrid models.

“If you look at the strategy of our company, we believe we will come out stronger as an electric company after this transformation,” Samuelsson said. “It will take longer than we thought five years ago, and that’s why we need to be pragmatic and have this type of plug-in [hybrid] or bridge solution.”

Following the launch of the new next-generation hybrid model for the U.S., Volvo plans to launch additional hybrid vehicles until EV adoption becomes more widespread and demand increases.

“It’s not just in one [hybrid vehicle] generation,” Samuelsson said. “We need the second generation to bridge also.”

Ramping up vehicle production in the U.S. will also help Volvo Cars mitigate the impact of tariffs, which the Trump administration had previously set at 25% on imported vehicles from the European Union.

However, the levies decreased to 15% on Sept. 5 as part of an agreement reached between the U.S. and the EU, according to a Federal Register notice from the Department of Commerce. The reduced levies became effective Sept. 5 and were later made retroactive to Aug. 1.

In addition to its plans to build more vehicles in the U.S., Volvo commemorated its 70th year in the U.S. market during a factory event this week, which South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster attended. The automaker has sold over 5 million vehicles in the U.S. since it first started manufacturing vehicles in the country.

“Volvo Cars’ decision to further invest in Ridgeville reinforces South Carolina’s position as a national leader in automotive manufacturing,” Gov. McMaster said in a statement. “We’re proud to continue our partnership with Volvo Cars and look forward to the company’s ongoing success in South Carolina.”

On the Dash:

Volvo Cars plans to expand production at its $1.3 billion factory in Ridgeville, South Carolina, shifting assembly of its popular XC60 SUV from Sweden to the U.S. in response to new tariffs under President Donald Trump’s trade policy.

The Swedish automaker said the move will help offset a 15% levy on imported vehicles that replaced a previous 2.5% duty. Producing the XC60 domestically enables Volvo to avoid the higher tariff while also allowing for tariff-free exports back to Europe under preliminary U.S.-EU trade terms.

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Volvo’s Ridgeville facility, designed to produce 150,000 vehicles annually, currently operates at approximately 20% capacity, employing roughly 2,000 employees on a single shift. The company originally pledged to create 4,000 jobs at the plant, a target it now expects to reach by 2030 as additional production lines are added.

The XC60, offered as both a gas-electric hybrid and a plug-in hybrid, has recorded more than 27,000 U.S. sales this year, representing a nearly 20% increase over the same period last year. Volvo executives emphasized that American buyers continue to show strong interest in hybrids, as many are reluctant to entirely abandon gas-powered vehicles.

At the same time, the company has emphasized that long-term growth will stem from EVs, warning that manufacturers who fail to make the transition may struggle to remain competitive.

In Ridgeville, Volvo already builds the $81,000 EX90 electric SUV, though only 2,500 units have sold in the U.S. this year, placing it sixth among the brand’s seven models. A refreshed EX90 debuting next year will include faster charging, adding more than 150 miles of range in 10 minutes, along with new safety and driver-assist features. Volvo also plans to launch a next-generation hybrid, designed explicitly for U.S. buyers, before 2030.

By that year, the company aims for at least 90% of its U.S. fleet to be “electrified,” a category that includes hybrids as well as fully electric vehicles. Volvo, which holds just 1% of the U.S. auto market, generates 20% of its global revenue in America.

Executives also noted that producing vehicles in South Carolina strengthens Volvo’s industrial presence in the U.S. while easing the impact of Trump’s tariffs on imported models and parts.

Over the past decade, Volvo Cars has invested $1.3 billion in its Ridgeville facility in the Lowcountry — and it is hinting that even more is to come over the next five years.

With an annual production capacity of 150,000 for Volvo EX90, Polestar 3, and soon, Volvo XC60, the production is not slowing down.

Volvo has announced plans to add a new hybrid model to the Ridgeville plant production no later than 2030. This new model is designed to meet the specific demands of the U.S. market, in line with Volvo Cars’ increased focus on ensuring each region has the products it needs to meet customer demands, according to a news release.

“The Charleston plant is foundational to our strategic growth plan for the U.S.,” Luis Rezende, Volvo Cars’ president of Americas, said in the release. “By adding another model into production here, we’ll take a big step toward realizing the full potential of our local manufacturing investments and workforce, and accelerate progress toward our ambitious commercial targets in the coming years.

The company has sold over 27,000 XC60s prior to beginning production in Charleston, according to the release.

“Volvo Cars’ decision to further invest in Ridgeville reinforces South Carolina’s position as a national leader in automotive manufacturing,” Gov. Henry McMaster said in the release. “It highlights the strength of our workforce and the confidence the world’s top companies have in our state. We’re proud to continue our partnership with Volvo Cars and look forward to the company’s ongoing success in South Carolina.”

Volvo also announced that the North Charleston-produced EX90, its flagship electric SUV, has undergone enhanced hardware and software upgrades. Powered by the company’s new 800-volt electric system, the EX90 can charge even faster, while a core computer upgrade enables new and improved safety, collision avoidance and driver support features, according to the company.

New features include connected safety alerts for slippery roads, hazards ahead, and accidents ahead, along with the integration of automatic e-call functionality with “emergency stop assist,” according to the release.

Emergency stop assist is designed to bring the car to a controlled stop in its lane if the driver fails to respond to attention or hands-off warnings, for example due to sudden illness, the release stated. Once the car is stationary, the new e-call feature will automatically connect the car to an emergency call center linked to Volvo Cars. The center can then speak with the occupants and contact emergency services if needed.

Other new features include expanded automatic emergency steering functionality in darkness, along with “park pilot” assist for parallel parking.