Volvo Cars’ flagship XC90 has been awarded the title of Company Car of the Year 2015 in the category Large SUV in Germany – beating German luxury car manufacturers on their home turf a full month before the official market launch.
The Company Car of the Year awards, run by fleet industry magazine FIRMENAUTO and the inspection experts at DEKRA are based on the votes of 270 German fleet managers. The XC90 was honoured with the coveted title following two days of intensive test driving that included 63 different car models in 11 categories. The fleet managers awarded their points based on driving performance, comfort and cost efficiency.
“This early endorsement of the attractiveness and relevance of our new XC90 for company car drivers and operators in Europe’s biggest and maybe most competitive market, gives us great confidence that this car will become a huge favourite for company car drivers across Europe,” said Bernard Bradley, Vice President Global Commercial Operations at Volvo Car Group.
The XC90 win is based on the overall competence of the car in the Large SUV segment. A combination of seven seats, class-leading 4-cylinder petrol and diesel engines a high powered hybrid powertrain option, luxurious interior and stunning exterior design helped to secure the win.
An award also went to the XC60 which won first place in the compact SUV category, while Volvo's success was rounded off with awards for the Volvo V70 (Second Place, Upper Mid-Sized Import) and Volvo V60 (Third Place, Mid-Sized Import).
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Volvo Car Group in 2014
For the 2014 financial year, Volvo Car Group recorded an operating profit of 2,252 MSEK (1,919 MSEK in 2013). Revenue over the period amounted to 129,959 MSEK (122,245 MSEK). For the full year 2014, global sales reached a record 465,866 cars, an increase of 8.9 per cent versus 2013. The record sales and operating profit cleared the way for Volvo Car Group to continue investing in its global transformation plan.
About Volvo Car Group
Volvo has been in operation since 1927. Today, Volvo Cars is one of the most well-known and respected car brands in the world with sales of 465,866 in 2014 in about 100 countries. Volvo Cars has been under the ownership of the Zhejiang Geely Holding (Geely Holding) of China since 2010. It formed part of the Swedish Volvo Group until 1999, when the company was bought by Ford Motor Company of the US. In 2010, Volvo Cars was acquired by Geely Holding.
As of December 2014, Volvo Cars had over 26,000 employees worldwide. Volvo Cars head office, product development, marketing and administration functions are mainly located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Cars head office for China is located in Shanghai. The company’s main car production plants are located in Gothenburg (Sweden), Ghent (Belgium) and Chengdu (China), while engines are manufactured in Skövde (Sweden) and Zhangjiakou (China) and body components in Olofström (Sweden).
