Volvo Cars Put People First in the Development of Autonomous Cars

Gothenburg, Sweden (ots/PRNewswire) -

- 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:

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omous-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
Håkan 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/p
ressreleases/169396/volvo-cars-unveils-concept-26-delivering-the-luxu
ry-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-cars-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.volvoca
rs.com/global/en-gb/media/pressreleases/195888/volvo-cars-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/autonomous-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 Göteborg, Sweden

Telephone: +46-31-59-00-00

Fax: +46-31-54-40-64
http://www.media.volvocars.com
http://twitter.com/volvocarsnews

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

Video:

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

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