Volvo celebrates four million cars produced on its SPA architecture

Volvo Cars reaches a milestone with four million vehicles built on its SPA platform, marking a decade of innovation, safety and progress toward electrification.

Volvo Cars has reached a major milestone, building its four millionth vehicle on the first-generation Scalable Product Architecture (SPA). Launched in 2014 with the second-generation XC90, this platform marked the beginning of Volvo’s modern era, enabling diverse models and powertrains to be built on a single production line—an innovation that reshaped manufacturing efficiency and reduced costs.

Developed entirely by Volvo’s Swedish R&D team, SPA became the foundation for six models produced across three continents, including facilities in Sweden, Belgium, the United States, and China. The milestone car—a Volvo XC90—rolled off the line in Gothenburg, symbolizing how an engineering vision grew into a global strategy.

Beyond flexibility, SPA introduced groundbreaking safety innovations such as run-off road protection, automatic braking at intersections, and a reinforced safety cage made with high-strength boron steel. These technologies helped the XC90 and XC60 achieve top Euro NCAP ratings and strengthened Volvo’s position as a safety leader.

The platform also gave designers new creative freedom. It was on SPA that the distinctive “Thor’s Hammer” headlights were born, while the Twin Engine plug-in hybrid technology marked Volvo’s first major step toward electrification.

Today, the company is preparing for the next chapter. The SPA2 platform, which underpins fully electric models like the EX90, builds on the flexibility of the first generation while introducing a core computing system and over-the-air update capabilities. Further ahead, SPA3 is expected to push modularity and intelligence even further.

Volvo’s journey with SPA reflects a decade of evolution and ambition. While new architectures take shape, vehicles built on the original SPA continue to receive updates and remain integral to the brand’s story—one that drives Volvo toward its long-term vision of becoming fully electric and achieving net-zero emissions by 2040.