Volvo says all new models launched from 2019 will be fully electric or hybrids, spelling the eventual end to nearly a century of vehicles powered solely by the internal combustion engine.
The company will continue to produce pure combustion-engine Volvos from models launched before that date, but said it would introduce cars across its model line-up that ranged from fully electric cars to plug-in hybrids.
Volvo's plans make it the first major traditional carmaker to set a date for the complete phase-out of combustion engine-only models though electrification has long been a buzzword across the industry and Elon Musk's Tesla Motors has been a pure-play battery carmaker from day one.
"This announcement marks the end of the solely combustion engine-powered car," Volvo Cars chief executive Hakan Samuelsson said in a statement.
Five new models set to be launched in 2019 through 2021 - three of them Volvos and two Polestar-branded - will all be fully electric.
"These five cars will be supplemented by a range of petrol and diesel plug in hybrid and mild hybrid 48-volt options on all models," Volvo said.
"This means that there will in future be no Volvo cars without an electric motor."