Volvo Cars to recruit 400 engineers to spearhead next-gen tech

Swedish automaker Volvo Cars is launching one of its largest engineering recruitment drives in order to boost the development of next generation safety, autonomous driving and electrification technologies.

The company plans to recruit around 400 engineers in the next 12 months, primarily in the area of software development. The majority of these new recruits will be based at the company’s R&D headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Furthermore, the company is opening a research & development centre in the university town of Lund in southern Sweden, where the first 35 employees will already start as of September. Lund is the site of a renowned international university and located close to Sweden’s third-largest city Malmö and the Danish capital Copenhagen.

The company is also investing heavily in new technologies in the areas of autonomous driving, active safety and electrification, underlining the need for the constant recruitment of software engineers.

Earlier this month, Volvo announced a new partnership with ride-sharing company Uber, to jointly develop the next generation of autonomous driving cars. Volvo also announced earlier this year that it would launch autonomous driving pilot projects in London and China, following on the launch of the Drive Me pilot project that will start in Gothenburg next year.

The carmaker’s XC90 SUV, S90 sedan and V90 estate are equipped with the most standard safety package in their segment and safety technologies such as Large Animal Detection and Run Off Road Protection.

In terms of electrification, Volvo will offer a plug-in hybrid variant on every new model as it replaces its entire product portfolio in the coming years. It will also introduce the first of several fully electric vehicles by 2019.

“Volvo is an industry leader in the area of autonomous drive technology and electrification, as well as the undisputed leader in automotive safety. We have the strong ambition to retain and extend that leadership, so we need to ensure that we capture the best engineering talent out there. This new recruitment drive is a reflection of that ambition,” commented Peter Mertens, senior vice president for Research & Development at Volvo Cars.

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