AutoPartsAsia | NOVEMBER 2017 | 17Sustainability through transport solutions can be defined as solutions that fulfil the demand
across three dimensions: Social, environmental and economic. These are correlated to
profits, people and planet. The Volvo Group’s mission is ‘Driving prosperity through transport
solutions’. It believes that prosperity is not only with material wealth, but to also access the
things that need to sustain wellbeing and quality of life for the people in terms of education,
healthcare, infrastructure, safe transportation, and caring for the environment. The Volvo
Group’s products and services contribute to a well-functioning society as its trucks, buses,
engines, construction equipment and financial services are involved in many of the functions
that most people rely on daily. Volvo Group is at the forefront to ensure new technologies
benefit its customers and society as a whole. Most of its customers are companies within the
transportation or infrastructure industries. The reliability and productivity of the products
are important and in many cases crucial to its customers’ success and profitability. With its
research capability and global reach, the group drives innovation in fast-growing fields such
as automation, connectivity and alternative drivelines. These areas can contribute to safety
and productivity gains, and environmental sustainability. “When I talk to young engineers
working on projects to reduce fuel consumption by one or two percent, from a sustainability
perspective, they feel they are really doing something good for the society,” Niklas
Gustafsson, Chief Sustainability Officer, Sustainability and Corporate Affairs, Volvo Group,
told T Murrali of AutoParts Asia. The edited excerpts:
Volvo Group
Makes Mobility A Vehicle Of
Sustainability
Q: What are the important
sustainability initiatives of the Volvo
Group?
A: Sustainability is a big and
indefinable area. To start with one
should know
the importance
of transport in
society – it is
its circulatory
system. Today,
transport plays
a very big role
in moving
people and
goods within
and outside
cities. We
believe this
will also be the
case tomorrow
with all the
disruptive
technologies
coming in.
Though these
technologies may change the ways of
transportation, transport as such will
still be the important part of keeping
a society prosperous. We are sure,from the sustainability perspective, that
we have a big role to play; that is the
baseline.Then, obviously, transportation is a lot
about safety and environmental care.
The technologies we use today are
also a burden as it results in CO2 and
other harmful emissions; at the same
time we are convinced it is a part of the
solution for tomorrow. The technologies
on electro mobility, connectivity and
automation are an important part of
the solution for our customers to make
their business more prosperous, and
for societies to evolve. For example,
switching over to electro mobility is
reducing emissions in a big way and
from the sustainability point of view the
benefits are much wider. Future cities
will be designed very differently on the
basis of electro mobility.When we look at electric passenger
cars, they may take the same space as
diesel cars, but when it comes to public