Volvo Car Italia focuses on gender equality and women empowerment

MILAN – A company at the forefront of “women empowerment” as an element of sustainable business development.

The inspiration was the award recently assigned by WWCOTY (Women Worldwide Car of the Year) to Volvo Cars for the brand's commitment to women.

A theme particularly dear to the Swedish brand, which has always been attentive not only to the female universe, but also to particularly sensitive issues such as diversity and inclusiveness. This was discussed at the Volvo Studio in Milan where Lotta Jakobsson, Senior Technical Specialist of the Volvo Safety Center in Sweden, Katharina Sachs, Senior Exterior Designer of Volvo Caris and Chiara Angeli, Head of Commercial Operations of Volvo Car Italia, spoke.

Through their stories, it emerged how the Swedish company acts in a sustainable way, not only in support of environmental issues, but also by taking care of people, in designing vehicles suitable for everyone, therefore also for women, considering the specific needs of each individual.

In 2019, for example, Volvo Cars promoted, on the occasion of the celebration of 60 years of the three-point safety belt, the EVA (Equal Vehicle for All) project, based on the concept of shared safety, to arrive at vehicles suitable for all types of occupants. In particular, the female body is different from the male one, for this reason the engineers of the Swedish company have developed car safety devices with the aim of protecting, with the same effectiveness, all people, regardless of gender, height, build or weight, therefore not limited to the 'average person' represented by the dummies used for impact tests.

Volvo is certainly a virtuous example in terms of “women empowerment” in the automotive sector, with women in key positions throughout the company (engineering, technology, design, marketing and PR and human resources), but raising the bar of expectations, with the intention of further increasing these data and aiming for equal pay by 2027.

"The Italian context is certainly different from the Swedish one, and yet, with the strong values ​​of Volvo to support and push me - said Chiara Angeli - I was able to undertake a path of professional development with ever-increasing responsibilities. It is not easy to make your way and consolidate yourself when you are the only woman in a meeting, but it is not impossible if you are lucky enough to work in an advanced context like Volvo, which values ​​people. It is a special work environment, in which mutual respect is the number one rule, regardless of hierarchy. This is why in the morning, when I go to the office, it actually feels like I am going home. And it is the same feeling I have at Volvo Studio Milano, a place where, in addition to talking about the product, culture is created in the name of inclusiveness and fairness. The public of all ages who faithfully follow our initiatives testifies that the message that comes out is understandable by everyone".