Andreas Carlgren, who was invited to visit by the Volvo group last Friday, spent the day visiting Volvo Cars during the morning and the Volvo Group’s head office during the afternoon. There, the Minister was informed by a number of experts about the Volvo Group's ambitions, and the current situation concerning alternative fuels and environment issues in general.
“I think that Volvo is well ahead but we need to go even further. For this reason we need to maintain long-term strategic cooperation,” he said after the meeting.
The Minister stressed the importance of research for the automotive industry to be competitive and take the lead in terms of consideration for the environment. Anders Carlgren’s ambition therefore is to hand down decisions on funding for research fast. Companies should not need to wait until the research bill in the spring to get funding approvals.
Jan-Eric Sundgren, responsible for community contacts and environmental questions and a member of Volvo Group Executive Committee, was pleased with the visit.
“We think it’s important to have a dialogue with representatives from the government. This also gives us the opportunity to inform the government about what’s going on in our company,” he commented.