Autonomous transport solutions, based on self-driving and connectivity technologies, are suited for applications where there is a need to move large volumes of goods and material on pre-defined routes, in repetitive flows.

Volvo Group's president and CEO Martin Lundstedt said the company had witnessed a significant increase in customer enquiries for these types of solutions.

"It is a logical next step for us to gather expertise and resources in a new business area with profit and loss responsibility to take autonomous transport solutions to the next level," he added.

The Swedish manufacturing group has already been working on various autonomous transport solutions. 

In its Electric Site project, material handling in a quarry was automated and electrified.

At the Brønnøy Kalk mine in Norway, autonomous Volvo FH trucks will be used in commercial operation to transport limestone along a five-kilometre stretch.

Another initiative is the self-driving, connected and electric vehicle Vera. In its first assignment Vera will form part of an integrated solution to transport goods from a logistics centre to a port terminal in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Volvo Autonomous Solutions will constitute a new business area as of January 1, 2020. Its financial results will be reported as part of the truck segment.