Volvo Cars was named the best car make in Sustainable Brands, Sweden’s biggest sustainability survey for various brands.
Sustainable Brands 2011 is a survey of 151 companies based on a consumer perspective. The survey follows the UN’s Global Compact, which in turn is founded on ten principles that relate to corporate responsibility. These principles take into account human rights, good working conditions and action against corruption, as well as environmental responsibility.
The purpose of Sustainable Brands is to create an independent and annually recurring survey of the various companies’ sustainability communication. In 2011, Volvo Cars made it to the very top among the 18 car brands included in the survey. All told, the company took third place among the 151 brands studied.
Volvo Cars tackles its sustainability responsibilities on a broad front and the core of the company’s approach is its range of green cars. The DRIVe series, launched in 2008, encompasses seven models all classed as green cars. Volvo Personbilar Sverige reports that it has now sold almost 100,000 such cars on the Swedish market.
The Volvo V50 DRIVe is the best-selling green car in Sweden, according to Linn Fortgens, director of sustainability issues at Volvo Car Corporation. Volvo accounts for 21% of green cars sold in Sweden.
We also work on these issues internally, for instance by improving the efficiency of our energy usage and refuse handling. We launched a new environmental strategy last year that includes a zero vision for environmental accidents, climate-smart logistics solutions and focus on the company’s water usage.
—Linn Fortgens
Traffic safety continues to remain an important consideration for Volvo Cars; the company has a goal that nobody should be seriously injured or killed in a new Volvo car by the year 2020.
The Sustainable Brands survey is undertaken by IDG Research, Relation Capital Partners AB and Novus Group International.