• Volvo UK new car sales grow by 39% in the first three months of 2019, to 16,204 units
• Q1 market share rises to 2.31%, sustaining Volvo's status as the country's fastest-growing premium car brand
• Top-performing models – XC40 compact SUV, V40 premium hatchback and the XC60 mid-size SUV
• Volvo Selekt Approved Used Car sales also prospering, up 5% on Q1 2018
Volvo Car UK has achieved its best ever first-quarter sales result, selling 16,204 cars in the first three months of the year. This represents an exceptional 39% increase on the Q1 figures in 2018. The historic performance confirms Volvo as the country's fastest-growing premium brand, with a 2.31% share of the market, itself a 35% increase on the same period last year.
The results are all the more notable for being achieved in a relatively flat market: while Volvo excelled, overall UK new car sales for the period fell by 2% year-on-year. The performance also sustains the momentum generated in 2018, which resulted in Volvo delivering its best year-end figures in 28 years.
Volvo's fantastic UK performance contributed to a successful first quarter for Volvo globally, where 161,320 cars were sold, an increase of 9% compared with the same period last year.
A comprehensively renewed product line-up is the touchstone for success, with Volvo's new award-winning SUVs, estate cars and saloons commanding huge public interest. Cool Scandinavian styling, superb equipment specifications, a great choice of efficient powertrains and exceptional safety features combine to make the current line-up a compelling proposition across the board.
In the UK, the top performer during the first quarter of the year was the XC40 compact SUV. A multiple award-winner, it stands as a class-leading example of a car that is desirable, technologically advanced and versatile, designed to meet all the key requirements of today's motorists, from efficient performance to comfort and seamless on-board connectivity. Taking second place in the results is the V40, signalling Volvo's enduring reputation as a master of premium hatchback design and engineering. The XC60 mid-size SUV was third in the UK sales chart for the quarter, continuing its popularity with buyers who want a car that is stylish, sophisticated, practical and safe.
The UK public's enthusiasm for Volvo was not confined to new cars. First-quarter sales of Volvo Selekt Approved Used Cars rose by 5% on last year's Q1 performance, to 8,390 units.
Jon Wakefield, Volvo Car UK Managing Director, said: "This is a fantastic start to the year for us, further demonstrating how our global strategy is producing vehicles that have wide-ranging appeal to customers. In a relatively short time, we renewed our product range with models that have instantly become the benchmarks against which the competition is being judged, giving us a strong position in a very competitive market. The challenge now is to sustain our performance, something that further new models and derivatives will help us achieve in the months ahead."
For more information on the entire Volvo range, please go to www.volvocars.com/uk
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