Volvo inaugurates new battery assembly line at Ghent

Volvo Cars has formally inaugurated a new battery assembly line at its Belgian manufacturing plant in Ghent where it will start building its first fully electric car, the XC40 Recharge later this year.

The inauguration is the latest proof point for Volvo Cars' ambitious electrification strategy and its climate action plan. It aims to reduce its lifecycle carbon footprint per car by 40% between 2018 and 2025, as a first step towards its goal of becoming a climate-neutral company by 2040.

Over the next five years, Volvo Cars will launch a fully electric car every year, as it seeks to make electric cars 50% of its global sales by 2025, with the rest comprising of hybrids. Ghent is one of two car manufacturing plants operated by Volvo Cars in Europe and has produced Volvos since 1965. It currently employs around 6,500 people.