Volvo Car Group announced on Wednesday it is launching a new brand, and it's called M. Not to be confused with BMW's legendary M division, Volvo's M brand simply stands for "mobility."
M's mission will be to provide "on-demand access" to cars and services through a smartphone application. However, M bills itself as different from many other mobility services. Part of M includes proprietary technology that helps the brand understand a user's needs, rather than simply supplying a time and place to pick up a car.
"We’re focused on the way people use the cars they own, which sets us apart. We aim to provide a real alternative to that experience. It should enable us to live life on our terms, getting things done and maximizing precious time," Bodil Eriksson, CEO of Volvo Car Mobility, said.
Volvo was light on details aside from its mission to differentiate itself from other services, but the brand will have plenty of background knowledge about the sector. Volvo will integrate its Sunfleet car-sharing group into M in the near future and draw on 20 years of data and knowledge from the subsidiary. Sunfleeet is Sweden's leading car-sharing company, and it operates 1,700 vehicles.
M's launch stems from Volvo's "Freedom to Move" ethos, which has also helped drive Care by Volvo, the brand's car-subscription service and other self-driving projects inside Volvo Car Group.
The brand will call Stockholm its headquarters and plans to launch in Sweden and the United States in 2019. The company did not provide additional information on services or markets but said it will release more information on M later this year.