Kivanc Karayol

HOW ARE YOU CREATING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR THE REGION?

We have a clear commitment to address and decrease our global carbon footprint, not only with the products we sell but also through all our day-to-day business functions. We are always driving to shape the world we want to live in. Our Head Office, based in Dubai, is constantly evolving to decrease our consumption of materials and energy, the same is true of our importers throughout the region. There is a huge focus on renewable energy with solar panel projects, energy-efficient lighting, and waste recycling programs just to name a few. Even our parts distribution warehouse reuses shipping material to reduce the consumption of our much-valued natural resources.

When it comes to our heavy commercial vehicle offering, we use the knowledge gained from our market-leading position in Europe to implement all the lessons learned locally in our region. We are committed to driving and propelling a fundamental breakthrough in electrification, but sustainability is not only about electromobility for us. We also invest in research and development of alternative fuels. Further, we offer products that use the latest technology and advancements in hydrogen, LNG, bio-diesel, and fuel cell.

One of our business areas, Volvo Energy, focuses on the re-use of the batteries in our product offering, thereby enabling second-life usage. From the development of charging and infrastructure solutions to the refurbishing, reusing, and recycling of state-of-the-art batteries that power our Volvo Group products, we aim to connect the beginning with the end, going from a linear business model to a circular one.

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES YOU FACE?

If we must name one that we can sum up in one word, that would be infrastructure. With this, we are referring to main grid lines, client charging needs, and so on, but we at Volvo are partnering with suppliers to increase the charging infrastructure and even some of our business partners can provide charging infrastructure solutions to our clients.

Another challenge is the cost of ownership and the technical capacity challenges required to compete with internal combustion engine (ICE) units. In this area, however, technology and development is growing so rapidly that we are extremely confident we can coach our customers on the advantages, and in the medium-term, with the latest technology of simulation tools, the cost of ownership will decrease drastically.

HOW ARE YOU OVERCOMING SAID CHALLENGES?

We are constantly engaging with the government, privately owned companies, charging infrastructure suppliers, and our own local/ regional business partners to create awareness of all stakeholders. As said earlier, we are not only focusing on electric vehicles but also offer different solutions to different client bases and not only a one-size-fits-all approach. We are investing heavily in our battery plant and there is a huge focus on developing our product offerings base, along with fuel cell technology, and partnerships with bio-diesel suppliers.