Half of all Volvos sold from 2025 will be pure-electric

Volvo has promised that from 2025 half of all the cars it sells will come with come with pure-electric powertrains -- despite not offering a single all-electric vehicle in its current line-up.

Announced at last week's Beijing motor show, the ambitious new statement of intent comes off the back of a similar "industry-first" declaration the Swedish car-maker made in June 2017.

Back then Volvo said that all models launched from 2019 would be available with either mild-hybrid, plug-in hybrid or all-electric powertrains, but the new announcement goes far further.

According to the car-maker's boss, Hakan Samuelsson, the sheer volume of pure-electric Volvos sold by 2025 would mark the "historic end" of conventional petrol and diesel cars, and that the company's latest announcement signals it has placed electrification at the core of its future business.

Samuelsson's announcement at the Chinese show was no coincidence as the CEO admitted the world's largest car market, worth 24.2 million cars a year, played a significant role in the Volvo's electrification strategy.

"China's electric future is Volvo car's electric future," Samuelsson told journalists in Beijing.

It's thought Volvo's first pure-electric vehicle won't arrive until next year – just six years ahead of its ambitious EV sales target.

Thought to be heavily based on the Volvo 40.2 concept, the new electric hatchback set to go on sale in 2019 has been created to rival both the Nissan LEAF and Tesla Model 3.

There's no word yet on how big the EV's battery pack will be, nor how much power the electric motors will make, but the car-maker has confirmed it will come with a range of around 500km.

Joining the production version of the 40.2 will be a pure-electric version of the recently launched XC40 SUV.