The hub will be pivotal in the company’s efforts to implement solutions for fully electric cars, which are set to become the backbone of the company’s operations in the years to come.
Kraków’s centre will work alongside two major Volvo engineering centres in China and Sweden, as well as the company’s three other tech hubs – two in Sweden (Stockholm and Lund) and one in India (Bengaluru).
The Poland-based hub will be developing basic safety technology, perception and driver assistance algorithms, as well as software for autonomous driving.
Visiting Warsaw on Monday, Volvo’s CEO Jim Rowan said the future cars of the brand will be "computers on wheels, designed to be updated over the air with new software."
"That means our Krakow tech hub and growing our in-house software development capabilities are key to our future success," he stressed.
Through the establishment of the hub, Volvo will offer jobs to approximately 120 workers, with a target employment of around 500-600 people within two years.
Poland’s second-largest city, Kraków, is an emerging technological heartland, with a well-developed telecommunications sector and a wide network of technology companies in the region, according to Business Insider.
The Volvo hub in Kraków is scheduled to become fully operational at the end of the year.
(pjm)
Source: Business Insider, Rzeczpospolita, Seeking Alpha