Volvo Cars has named Asa Haglund the new head of its safety center, which plays a lead role in automaker's aim to eliminate all collisions in the future.
Haglund, 46, started on February 1, Volvo said Monday.
Haglund joined Volvo in 2004 as a crash analyst. During nearly 19 years with the company, she has also held key roles such as the manager of rear-end collisions and child safety, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Volvo, which invented the three-point safety, has referred to its new EX90 electric flagship SUV as tits "safest model ever."
One key feature in the car is an interior radar system designed to ensure that no one is unknowingly left behind in the car. One aim is to stop hot car deaths, which government statistics show have taken the lives of more than 900 children in the U.S. since 1998.
Haglund succeeded Thomas Broberg, who had served as acting head of the safety center since last summer. He will return to his previous role as senior technical advisor for safety.
Broberg took over leadership of the safety center after Malin Ekholm left the company to join California-based EV startup Rivian as vice president of chassis, dynamics and attributes.
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Ekholm congratulated Haglund on LinkedIn saying, "I could not think of a better person to lead this amazing team … congratulations to both Volvo and you Asa! This is going to be Awesome."
Volvo R&D boss Anders Bell called Haglund the "perfect fit" to lead the safety center.
"Our next generation of fully electric cars will further raise our standards in safety," he added in the release.
Volvo has emphasized safety as one of the brand's unique selling points for decades.
When the automaker launched its XC90 in 2015 it gave the premium large SUV two key safety systems as standard equipment.
One was automatic braking if the driver is at risk of being involved in an accident at an intersection.
The other was a system that protects the driver from serious injury if the car runs off the road. That includes front seats with a Volvo-patented shock absorbing structure designed to reduce the impact on the spine.
For much of the 2010s, the automaker stated that its vision was that by 2020 no person should be killed or serious injured in a new Volvo. When asked whether it has been successful, the company has said that the pronouncement was "a vision" rather than a hard target.
Haglund is now tasked with guiding the company toward its zero-collision future.
"I'm very excited and proud of this opportunity to lead our Safety Center and to help further advance what safety means for Volvo Cars and the industry alike," Haglund said in the release.
