In a week that could have been dominated with news about Tesla's Model 3 introduction, Volvo stole the electric carmaker's thunder by announcing it will fit every new model launched with an electric motor, starting in 2019.
The announcement came a day before France said it would ban gasoline engines in new cars starting in 2040, and generated enormous press coverage.
"It's a great PR coup and quite clever from Volvo," said Tim Urquhart, principal analyst at IHS Markit. "It was half a PR exercise and half quite an impressive statement of intent."
The Swedish company boldly claimed that its new strategy heralded "a new chapter in automotive history" after more than a century of domination by the internal combustion engine.