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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