Canadians Say Safety Matters – But Confidence Lags Behind, New Volvo Car Canada Survey Finds

Volvo’s commitment to safety innovation is helping close the gap between what Canadians expect and what they experience behind the wheel

/EIN News/ -- RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, June 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadians are clear: vehicle safety matters. In fact, 81% say safety ratings influence their purchasing decisions. But according to new national research from Volvo Car Canada, that conviction doesn’t always translate into confidence or action behind the wheel. Fewer than half (40%) of Canadian drivers say they’re completely confident their current vehicle would protect them in a crash. Among younger drivers, that number drops even further.

The findings reveal a critical gap between what drivers say they value and how they actually feel on the road. At Volvo, safety has always been more than just a feature; it’s a founding principle. From pioneering the three-point safety belt in 1959 to introducing Safe Space Technology in today’s vehicles, Volvo’s mission remains clear: to close the gap between expectation and experience through innovation based on real-world research.

“Canadians are telling us safety matters, and we’ve been listening for decades,” says Matt Girgis, Managing Director, Volvo Car Canada. “At Volvo, we’re designing cars and safety innovations that help protect what matters most — people and their families.”

Key Survey Findings:

• The Confidence Gap: Only 40% of Canadians are completely confident their car would protect them in a crash. Confidence is lowest among Gen Z (32%) and highest among Boomers (48%).
• Trust vs. Understanding: While 61% trust features like blind spot monitoring and lane-keeping assist, 59% - especially younger drivers – say they find modern safety technology distracting or confusing.
• Safety vs. Spending: Despite ranking safety as important, only 9% list it as their top factor when buying a car, well behind price (34%) and fuel efficiency (15%).
• Essential Features: Canadians consider backup cameras (40%) and blind spot detection (26%) essential, with 51% willing to pay more for advanced safety features.

Volvo: Leading the Way in Real-World Safety Innovation

Thanks to over five decades of safety research collected from real-life accidents, Volvo Cars has built unique safety knowledge capturing the complexity of the real world. It sets the foundation for the company’s safety innovations, which over the years has pioneered the Volvo Cars Safety Standard.

The company’s spirit of innovation is seen in features like Safe Space Technology, which is seen in today’s Volvo Cars lineup, and is made up of advanced driver assistance systems designed to help protect those in and around the car and help prevent accidents from happening in the first place.

Volvo’s latest safety innovation is seen in the world’s first multi-adaptive safety belt, to be debuted in the upcoming fully electric Volvo EX60 in 2026. It’s designed for even greater protection in real-world traffic scenarios, using data input from interior and exterior sensors to customize protection, adapting the setting based on the situation and individual’s profiles, such as their height, weight, body shape and seating position.

A Safer Future for All

The company is also leveraging data to improve safety, now with AI and machine learning to analyze billions of real-time data points, accelerating the company towards their ambition for zero collisions and pushing safety innovations to new heights.

With a legacy grounded in redefining safety for decades, Volvo is committed to building vehicles you can trust, today and tomorrow. To learn more about Volvo’s safety legacy and innovations, visit https://www.volvocars.com/en-ca/safety/overview/

To learn more about Volvo’s product and services, visit www.volvocars.com/en-ca.

For the infographic and assets, please click here.

For further information: 
holly.wilks@narrative.ca / (519) 495-2568 
jennifer.okoeguale@volvocars.com / (647) 881-6878

About This Study
These findings are from a survey conducted by Volvo from May 8th to May 12th, 2025, among a representative sample of 1505 online Canadians who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. The survey was conducted in English and French. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/-2.53 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

About Volvo Car Canada Ltd.
Volvo Car Canada Ltd. is a subsidiary of Volvo Car Group of Gothenburg, Sweden. VCCL provides marketing, sales, parts, service, technology, and training support to the 37 Volvo automobile retailers across Canada. For more information, please refer to the Volvo Cars Canada media website at: www.media.volvocars.com/ca/en-ca

Volvo Cars in 2024
For the full year 2024, Volvo Car Group recorded a record-breaking core operating profit of SEK 27 billion. Revenue in 2024 amounted to an all-time high of SEK 400.2 billion, while global sales reached a record 763,389 cars.

About Volvo Car Group
Volvo Cars was founded in 1927. Today, it is one of the most well-known and respected car brands in the world with sales to customers in more than 100 countries. Volvo Cars is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange, where it is traded under the ticker “VOLCAR B”.
"For life. To give people the freedom to move in a personal, sustainable and safe way." This purpose is reflected in Volvo Cars' ambition to become a fully electric car maker and in its commitment to an ongoing reduction of its carbon footprint, with the ambition to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

As of December 2024, Volvo Cars employed approximately 42,600 full-time employees. Volvo Cars' head office, product development, marketing and administration functions are mainly located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Cars' production plants are located in Gothenburg, Ghent (Belgium), South Carolina (US), Chengdu, Daqing and Taizhou (China). The company also has R&D and design centres in Gothenburg and Shanghai (China).

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/69d5ed09-d551-4c34-ac31-0b7046725a9b