Today, I’m talking to Jim Rowan, the CEO of Volvo Cars. Now, Jim’s only been at Volvo for a short time. He took over in 2022 after a decades-long career in the consumer electronics industry. Before Volvo, his two longest stints were at BlackBerry, whose QNX software is used in tons of cars, and then at Dyson, which once tried and failed to make an electric car. Jim and I talked a lot about how that unique experience has influenced how he thinks about the transformational changes happening in the world of cars.

For Volvo, the stakes are high. The company has pledged to be all-electric by the end of the decade, and Jim is also making some very different bets on software and revenue than the rest of the car industry. Jim’s view is that automakers are undergoing three major shifts all at once: electrification, autonomy, and direct-to-consumer sales. With Volvo, Jim is trying to steer the ship through these changes and come out an EV-only carmaker on the other end.

Links:

Volvo plans to sell only electric cars by 2030

Volvo’s EX90 is a powerful computer that also happens to be an impeccably designed EV

Can Polestar design a new kind of car company?

The EV transition trips over its own cord

Volvo’s upcoming EVs join the Tesla Supercharger bandwagon

Future Volvo cars to run on Volvo operating system

Audi and Volvo will use Android as the operating system in upcoming cars

Volvo’s first EV will run native Android

The rest of the auto industry still loves CarPlay and Android Auto

The future of cars is a subscription nightmare

Everybody hates GM’s decision to kill Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for its EVs



Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23722862


Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge and is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt. It was edited by Callie Wright. 

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.
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