A grand opening celebration was held today for the new Volvo Car University and Volvo Car South Carolina Technical Center buildings at the company’s Ridgeville, South Carolina campus. Volvo Car Group executives Håkan Samuelsson, Javier Varela, Anders Gustafsson and David Stenström were joined by Governor Henry McMaster and Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt to officially open the facilities.
The Volvo Car University building holds nearly 89,000 square feet of training and office space and is equipped with modern technology to enable retail partners and Volvo Cars employees to access industry-leading training. The Volvo Car University team has also created a leadership training program with the Yale School of Management. The University will play an instrumental role in preparing Volvo Cars retail partners for the switch to full product electrification, which ramped up last year with the launch of the fully electric Volvo XC40 Recharge.
With the Volvo Car South Carolina Technical Center, the company adds new research and development capabilities for its Americas Region workforce with a center to educate retailer technicians on the latest vehicle technologies, including electrified powertrains. The Center includes a 23,000 square foot facility which encompasses a Training Academy, Methods Workshop and Technical Material Analysis.
Sustainability remains as important as safety for Volvo Cars. The University campus will become a Volvo Cars Center of Excellence for sustainability in the Americas and with a recent LEED (Gold) certification for the Campus, the company’s Ridgeville footprint moves closer to being a climate neutral operation by 2025.
“The opening of Volvo Car University and the South Carolina Technical Center represents the most recent demonstration of our commitment to our future in the USA and the state of South Carolina,” said Anders Gustafsson, Senior Vice President, Volvo Car Americas and President and CEO, Volvo Car USA. “We appreciate the continued support of the Governor’s office, the state and Berkeley County. We are proud to call South Carolina home as Volvo Cars continues our transformation, moving toward an electric, sustainable future.”
“Today’s announcement by Volvo Cars highlights their important, long-standing commitment to South Carolina and our people,” said South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster. “Our workforce is hardworking and eager to learn. This investment – and investments like it – will create a stronger, highly-trained workforce that will benefit South Carolina for decades to come. We congratulate Volvo Cars on today’s announcement and look forward to hosting Volvo team members in our beautiful Lowcountry.”
The grand opening comes on the heels of the announcement earlier this month that Volvo Cars will invest $118 million to produce the fully electric Polestar 3 at its South Carolina plant under contract for Polestar Cars. The Polestar 3 is the third vehicle scheduled to be built at the plant, joining the Volvo S60 luxury sedan and the next generation of electrified Volvo cars.
