Volvo Plots New ‘All-Inclusive’ Leasing With EX60

Update, Friday, January 23, 2025: This article has been updated to include a comment from a Volvo Canada spokesperson clarifying that no decision has reached on whether or not Care will be introduced in Canada.

It wasn’t that long ago that automakers were excited to offer vehicles with a subscription service. Although the schemes failed to attract many customers, Volvo thinks it can take some of the best features of subscriptions to appeal to people considering a lease with new "all-inclusive" leases under the familiarly named Care program, and they could someday be coming to Canada.

“Canada is ahead of the U.S. when it comes to leasing,” Akhil Krishnan, who is in charge of the 60 line of vehicles at Volvo, told media ahead of the launch of the EX60. “Canada is going to be one of those markets where we will make those first steps.” 

The all-inclusive leasing bundles will first be offered in Sweden, but shoppers in other parts of the world will soon be offered leases that include more than just the price of the vehicle in their monthly bill. For instance, in its home market, Volvo will offer customers leases with three years of free home charging.

The automaker is working with Sweden's electricity provider to take advantage of the EX60’s bi-directional charging. As a result, the utility gets to use the vehicles to ease strain on the grid at night, while consumers could pay nothing to drive their EX60, if they can avoid public charging. With an estimated range of 640 km for the EX60, that could mean minuscule fuelling costs for many owners.

Other aspects of the vehicle’s running costs could also be taken care of as part of the bundle. The automaker plans to work with Swedish insurance companies to include that as part of a driver's monthly lease bill, too.

A Volvo Canada spokesperson said there are "no immediate plans plans to introduce an all-inclusive leasing program" in Canada, but Krishnan told AutoTrader that the automaker hopes to create a bundled lease that is price competitive for many global markets."

"So you don’t have to go out to get your own insurance. You don’t have to go out and get your own contract for electricity. You don’t have to go and install your own wall box,” he said.

While it remains to be seen exactly what Volvo Canada could offer as part of its all-inclusive leases, a look at its old subscription service might provide some hints. When it was still on offer, the program offered maintenance, roadside assistance, winter wheel and tire changing, concierge service, and more. It is conceivable, then, that some of these services could be offered as part of a bundled lease in the future. However, it should be noted that the automaker did not offer insurance as part of the package in Canada, due in part to each province’s individual insurance systems.

Unfortunately, it remains unclear if and when Volvo's new Care leasing program might arrive in Canada. Based on its successes and failures, the product will be refined and offered elsewhere, but there’s still work to do before Canadian drivers can show up at a Volvo dealer, do a credit check, and hope to have a one-price-covers-all monthly bill for their vehicle.