Rayssa Leal Connects Safety and Freedom Behind the Wheel for Volvo

Volvo has chosen one of the leading voices of the new generation to introduce the EX30 Ultra Twin Motor to the Brazilian market. In the new campaign created by Grey, the brand places Olympic skateboarder Rayssa Leal at the centre of a story about the desire for freedom, responsibility, and that moment when owning your first car is no longer just a dream. This is exactly the phase Rayssa is in now, in the process of getting her driver's license and counting down the days until she can actually drive.

In the film ‘Rayssa Imagining,’ we see her at 18 years old sitting inside an EX30 Ultra Twin Motor parked in the garage, about to embark on what would be her first car ride after getting her driver's license. She takes a deep breath, grips the steering wheel, and, faced with the weight of responsibility, asks herself the question any future driver has asked themselves: “Am I ready?” When she closes her eyes, the film enters her mind and begins to show, in the form of fantasy, everything she imagines experiencing when she finally has her license.

In this stream of consciousness, very concrete urban driving situations are given a cinematic treatment. Rayssa finds herself trying to park in a square full of people watching, until the EX30 Ultra Twin Motor takes control and executes a perfect parallel parking maneuver, connecting the typical nervousness of the first tight parking spot to the model's assisted driving technology. Then, already moving through the streets, an audible alert prevents her from changing lanes when a skateboarder appears in her blind spot, transforming the assistance system into a character that literally sees what the driver doesn't yet see. At the height of the fantasy, the speedometer shoots up almost instantly to 100 km/h, in a 0 to 100 acceleration in 3.6 seconds that impresses even an athlete accustomed to the adrenaline of maneuvers.

Startled by her own courage, Rayssa returns to reality in the garage and admits: “Calm down, calm down. I’m not ready for this yet,” a phrase that summarises the balance that Volvo seeks to communicate between the desire for performance and non-negotiable safety.

By choosing Rayssa Leal to star in the campaign, the automaker associates the launch with a figure who became a global icon while still a teenager, combining power, discipline, and lightness—attributes that resonate with the positioning of a compact, electric, technological car designed to deliver high performance with advanced protection for the driver and passengers.

“From the beginning, our challenge was: how to talk about an extremely fast and technologically advanced car without falling into the old formula of power for spectacle? The answer came when we looked at Rayssa not as an Olympic idol, but as an 18-year-old girl, in the middle of getting her driver's license, dying to drive and still full of doubts. From there, we created a film that takes place inside her head, where each feature of the EX30 Ultra Twin Motor becomes a scene, emotion and real tension, not just a product bullet,” highlighted Manir Fadel, CEO of Grey.

“With the EX30 Ultra Twin Motor, Volvo is taking an important step towards reaching a new generation of drivers who see the car as a symbol of freedom, but also of responsibility. The campaign shows that, behind all the performance and technology of the EX30, there is something that will always be central to Volvo: the safety of those who want to explore the world with greater autonomy,” explained Antony Machado of Volvo.

The campaign was produced by Sentimental Filme, directed by Fabiana Serpa. The soundtrack is by Cabaret, who created a modern reinterpretation of a classic, connecting Rayssa's fantasy world to her contemporary attitude, with an energetic mix that reinforces movement, impact, and the feeling that her imagination and her desire to drive are always about to accelerate.

From a communication standpoint, the campaign relies on storytelling that speaks to both the consumer and the advertising market itself: instead of the experienced driver who masters any situation, Volvo and Grey choose a protagonist who is still learning and is not afraid to admit it. In this context, advanced driver assistance systems, the quick response of the electric motor, and the combination of performance and safety appear as natural allies for those taking their first steps behind the wheel.

The campaign also connects to Volvo's global strategy of becoming a 100% electric brand in the coming years and exemplifies how the brand is renewing its language, bringing the theme of electrification closer to the real world of a generation that is just about to get behind the wheel.