From 2019, all new Volvo cars will have electric or hybrid engines, the Swedish auto manufacturer announced today.
The move makes Volvo the first of the major car companies to phase out the internal combustion engine and go all-electric.
HÃ¥kan Samuelsson, Volvo Cars president and chief executive, said the decision to focus on electrification was taken mostly in response to consumer demand.
"This is about the customer," said Samuelsson. "People increasingly demand electrified cars, and we want to respond to our customers' current and future needs."
"This announcement marks the end of the solely combustion engine-powered car."
Volvo's decision comes after German legislative bodies moved to ban petrol-powered cars from sale by 2030, providing a window into potential future regulations across the European Union. This would effectively phase out vehicles with internal combustion engines ? which generate power through the hot gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels ? from sale in 13 years' time.
At a press conference this afternoon, Samuelsson said that manufacturers still producing internal combustion engines would likely struggle to meet future EU targets.
"We will meet the requirements in the EU until 2020 with the products we have now," he said. "But we believe the [future] targets will not be possible to meet with only internal combustion engines."

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