Volvo Cars Put People First in the Development of Autonomous Cars

PR67077

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Jan. 10 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ -

    - With Photo

    Volvo Cars, the premium car maker, has revealed its distinctive approach to

developing autonomous cars with the introduction of a family of four at the

Detroit Motor Show.

    To view the Multimedia News Release, please click:

    http://www.multivu.com/players/uk/8017451-volvo-cars-develop-autonomous-cars

    The Hain family, from Gothenburg in Sweden, are the first people chosen to

take part in a real-life autonomous drive research program using real cars, in

real traffic.

    "We do things differently at Volvo Cars - we always have," said Hakan

Samuelsson, President & CEO, Volvo Car Group. "Our main focus has always been

on people and making their lives easier.

    Technology should improve the consumer experience making mobility safer,

sustainable and more convenient."

    Volvo Cars believes that in the rush to deliver fully autonomous cars, many

car makers are forgetting the most important ingredient: the people that will

use them. Volvo's unique approach is to define the technology based on the role

of the driver - not the other way around.

    "The aim of the Drive Me research project is to focus on how to enhance

peoples' lives and have a positive impact on society. We take a holistic rather

than a purely technical approach to our research and development processes. No

one else to our knowledge is developing autonomous drive from a human-centric

standpoint," said Henrik Green, Senior Vice President, Research and Development

at Volvo Car Group.

    The Drive Me project is a collaborative research program consisting of

several players from public, private and academic fields. It is probably the

most advanced, ambitious and extensive real-life autonomous drive project in

existence. The project will see up to 100 autonomous cars on the roads around

Gothenburg, Sweden, home to Volvo Cars, driven by real people, in real traffic

during 2017. The project is set to expand to other cities around the world in

the near future.

    "We want to learn more around how people feel when they engage and

disengage autonomous drive, what the handover should be like, and what sort of

things they would do in the car when it's driving them to their destination,"

added Henrik Green.

    The Swedish car maker, a leading partner in the Drive Me research project,

aims to have its first fully autonomous car on the market by 2021.

    Volvo Cars provided a vision of what autonomous cars could deliver with

Concept 26

[https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressreleases/169396/volvo-c

ars-unveils-concept-26-delivering-the-luxury-of-time ], revealed in 2015. More

recently the company has partnered with ride-sharing company Uber

[https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressreleases/194795/volvo-c

ars-and-uber-join-forces-to-develop-autonomous-driving-cars ] to develop base

technology for  autonomous cars and has launched a joint venture with leading

automotive safety supplier Autoliv

[https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressreleases/195888/volvo-c

ars-and-autoliv-to-create-joint-venture-for-autonomous-driving ], called

Zenuity aimed at developing benchmark autonomous drive software and safety

solutions for OEMs.

    Volvo Cars also announced preliminary full year sales figures at the

Detroit Motor Show, reflecting the continued growth that the premium car maker

is achieving, and restated its commitment to further growing the brand in the

United States, where a new Volvo car plant will begin production in 2018,

creating over 4,000 new American jobs in Charleston, South Carolina.

    Note to Editors:

    More information on the Drive Me project and Volvo's approach to autonomous

drive.

[http://www.volvocars.com/intl/about/our-innovation-brands/intellisafe/autonomou

s-driving ]

    A picture accompanying this release is available through the PA Photowire.

It can be downloaded from http://www.pa-mediapoint.press.net or viewed at

http://www.mediapoint.press.net or http://www.prnewswire.co.uk .

    Volvo Car Group

    Corporate Communications

    PVH50

    SE-405 31 Goteborg, Sweden

    Telephone:    +46-31-59-00-00

    Fax:    +46-31-54-40-64

    http://www.media.volvocars.com

    http://twitter.com/volvocarsnews

         (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140522/683630 )

         (Photo:

http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/455262/The_Hain_Family_Volvo.jpg )

http://www.multivu.com/players/uk/8017451-volvo-cars-develop-autonomous-cars

SOURCE: Volvo Car Group