Volvo Cars global sales up by 97.5 per cent in April

Volvo Cars achieved its tenth consecutive month of sales growth as the company’s global sales increased by 97.5 per cent in April, compared with the same month last year.

In April, Volvo Cars sold a total of 62,724 cars, up from 31,760 cars in the same period last year. The growth was mainly driven by a strong demand in US and Europe, in combination with a recovery from a sales drop in April last year related to the Covid-19 pandemic. In China, where sales returned to growth around this time last year, the company reported a steady increase of 11.6 per cent. 

Sales in the January-April period landed at 248,422 cars, up 51.8 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Sales of its Recharge line-up of chargeable models, with a fully electric or plug-in hybrid powertrain, remained strong in Europe during the month of April, representing 42 per cent of the company’s overall sales in Europe. Globally, Recharge cars accounted for 24.3 per cent of the total sales volume.

In the US, sales increased by 185.5 per cent in April compared with the same month last year, mainly driven by a strong demand for the XC90 and XC60. Total sales reached 11,036 cars, an increase from 3,866 in the same period 2020, when many states implemented stay-at-home orders due to the pandemic.

In Belgium, at the end of the month of April, Volvo has a market share of 4.57% and has registered 7152 vehicles, which represents a growth of 58.69% compared to 2020.

The XC40, Volvo's compact SUV is still the best-selling model in Belgium this year, all brands combined.

Our Recharge line-up (fully electric or plug-in hybrid powertrains) represents almost 40% of our national sales.

European sales grew to 25,816 cars for the month of April, up 178 per cent compared to the same period last year. The increase was mainly driven by markets that have started to recover after last year’s pandemic-related shutdowns, as well as a strong sales increase in UK, Sweden and Germany.

China, Volvo Cars’ biggest market, reported a solid sales growth in April, with total sales reaching 16,435 cars. The increase was led by a high demand for the locally assembled XC60 and S90 models.

A detailed break-up of regional sales is given below:

In April, the XC40 was the top selling model with sales of 19,833 cars (5,708), followed by the XC60, with total sales of 17,925 cars (10,908 units), and the Volvo XC90 with 9,371 cars (4,425 units).

Volvo Car Group in 2020

For the 2020 financial year, Volvo Car Group recorded an operating profit of 8.5 BSEK (14.3 BSEK in 2019). Revenue over the period amounted to 262.8 BSEK (274.1 BSEK). For the full year of 2020, global sales reached 661,713 cars (705,452), a decline of 6.2 per cent compared to 2019.

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 of 661,713 cars in 2020 in about 100 countries. Volvo Cars has been under the ownership of the Zhejiang Geely Holding since 2010.

As of December 2020, Volvo Cars employed approximately 40,000 (41,500) full-time employees. Volvo Cars head office, product development, marketing and administration functions are mainly located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Cars head office for APAC is located in Shanghai. The company’s main car production plants are located in Gothenburg (Sweden), Ghent (Belgium), South Carolina (US), Chengdu and Daqing (China), while engines are manufactured in Skövde (Sweden) and Zhangjiakou (China) and body components in Olofström (Sweden).

Under its new company purpose, Volvo Cars aims to provide customers with the Freedom to Move in a personal, sustainable and safe way. This purpose is reflected into a number of business ambitions: for example, by the middle of this decade it aims for half of its global sales to be fully electric cars and to establish five million direct consumer relationships. Volvo Cars is also committed to an ongoing reduction of its carbon footprint, with the ambition to be a climate-neutral company by 2040.