Care by Volvo subscription service getting an update in February
In addition to improving the user experience, these updates will allow Care by Volvo to offer more of the company's products.
The Care by Volvo vehicle subscription service is almost a year old now, and Volvo executives admit they've learned a lot in these first few months. A number of updates are coming, and speaking to Roadshow this week at the Los Angeles Auto Show , Volvo North America CEO Anders Gustafsson says we'll see the first big change in February.
"In February we're going to launch the next platform," Gustafsson told Roadshow in an interview. "It's really the customer interface," Volvo Cars CEO Håkan Samuelsson added during the interview.
Regarding the interface, Gustafsson says Care by Volvo will be updated to better serve the mobile audience.
"Fifty percent of the cars are subscribed through the mobile phone," he said. "I would say if you ask me ... it was not on my radar."
Beyond improving the overall user experience, Gustafsson says these updates will eventually allow Care by Volvo to expand to the automaker's full range of products.
"When we launch [the update] we have the capabilities to put the total portfolio into the Care by Volvo solution," Gustafsson said. "That's what we aim for."
Right now, Care by Volvo is only available for the XC40 crossover and S60 sedan. And if you order an XC40 through Care by Volvo today, you won't get it until next year -- the entire allocation of Care by Volvo XC40s sold out in just four months. With the S60 sedan, Volvo says it won't have this problem.
In the future, the company would even like to expand Care by Volvo to handle used cars. But right now, the main focus is to get the new-car subscription service right, and roll it out across the United States.
"We've been waiting [to get] the license in every state," Gustaffson said. "A lot of meetings. I promise you."