Video: Volvo Cars has no cars at AutoMobility LA

Not a single car will be on the Volvo Cars stand at AutoMobility LA – the trade and press event from November 26-29 preceding the 2018 LA Auto Show.

However, Volvo will have a selection of cars and SUVs at the latter public show from November 30 to December 9, Motoring Research reports.

Both shows are at the LA Convention Center, the public event also featuring dozens of electric cars.

Instead of cars at the trade show, Volvo Cars will demonstrate its vision, redefining what a car can be.

Since motor shows were introduced, the car has always been a centrepiece on a rotating stage or covered under a silk sheet. Yet cars and the industry are changing, along with people’s expectations, Volvo says.

So instead of seeing a car on Volvo’s AutoMobility stand, visitors will find a graphic statement ‘This Is Not A Car

’.

“By calling the trade show AutoMobility LA, the organisers have recognised the disruption affecting our industry,” Volvo Cars product strategy representative Marten Levenstam says. “We want to demonstrate that we got the memo and start a conversation about the future of automobility. So instead of bringing a concept car, we talk about the concept of a car. We will not win the ‘car of the show’ award this year, but we are comfortable with that. Because this is not a car show.”

Volvo Cars will have interactive demonstrations of connectivity services, such as in-car delivery, car sharing, its vision for autonomous driving as displayed in the Volvo 360c concept and the car subscription service Care by Volvo.

“Rather than just building and selling cars, we will really provide our customers with the freedom to move in a personal, sustainable and safe way,” Volvo Cars chief executive Hakan Samuelsson says.

“We offer our customers access to a car, including new attractive services whenever and wherever they want it.”

Volvo Cars has strategic partnerships with established tech companies like Amazon, Google and Nvidia, as well as with technology start-ups like Luminar and Zenuity.

By the middle of next decade, half of the annual car volume will be fully electric, one-third will be autonomous and Volvo will establish over five million direct consumer relationships, the company says.