Volvo Cars today reports that revenue for 2019 rose by 8.5 per cent to SEK274.1 billion, compared with revenue of SEK252.7 billion in 2018.
Operating profit for the full year 2019 improved to SEK14.3 billion, an 0.8 per cent increase compared with SEK14.2 billion in 2018. Cash flow more than doubled compared with 2018 to SEK11.6 billion.
The result follows the company’s earlier announcement of a sixth consecutive global sales record in 2019, as it sold more than 700,000 cars for the first time in its history.
Both profits and margins during the second half of 2019 were better than in the second half of 2018. Profitability during the period was driven by continued strong growth in volume, especially in SUVs, as well as cost efficiency measurements initiated early in 2019.
The full-year operating margin amounted to 5.2 per cent, compared to 5.6 per cent in 2018.
“The year 2019 was another year of growth in which we achieved a robust financial result and continued our transformation as a company,” said Håkan Samuelsson, Chief Executive of Volvo Cars. “I am pleased to see that the cost efficiency actions we put in place had an effect, especially in the second half of the year.”
Volvo Cars’ sixth consecutive year of record sales was the result of strong peformances in all major regions, as well as several records in individual markets. Despite stagnating global car markets, the company gained market share in China, the United States and Europe.
In China, Volvo Cars sold 154,961 cars in 2019, an increase of 18.7 per cent versus 2018 and comfortably outperforming the overall market. The result is an all-time record for Volvo Cars in China and the highest sales number it has ever reached in a single market.
In the United States, the company sold 108,234 cars, increasing sales by 10.1 per cent and breaking the 100,000 cars sold threshold for the first time since 2007.
In Europe, the company sold more than 50,000 cars in Germany for the first time in its history, while it realised its best sales result since 1990 in the United Kingdom.
Markets that also recorded their best-ever sales performance in the company’s history included Australia, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Korea, Poland and Portugal.
Other operational highlights in 2019 include Volvo Cars’ commitment to become a climate-neutral company by 2040, the reveal of its first fully electric car, the XC40 Recharge, as well as a brand-new Recharge car line of chargeable Volvos to boost sales of plug-in hybrid and fully electric cars.
Full details of the company’s financial results are available by following this link and were discussed further at a press conference, which can be watched via this link.
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Volvo Car Group in 2019
For the 2019 financial year, Volvo Car Group recorded an operating profit of 14.3 BSEK (14.2 BSEK in 2018). Revenue over the period amounted to 274.1 BSEK (252.7 BSEK). For the full year 2019, global sales reached a record 705,452 (642,253) cars, an increase of 9.8 per cent versus 2018. The results underline the comprehensive transformation of Volvo Cars’ finances and operations in recent years, positioning the company for its next growth phase.
About Volvo Car Group
Volvo Cars was founded in 1927. Today, it is one of the most well-known and respected premium car brands in the world, with sales of 705,452 cars in 2019 in about 100 countries. Volvo Cars has been under the ownership of the Zhejiang Geely Holding of China since 2010.
In 2019, Volvo Cars employed on average approximately 41,500 (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 generate half of its revenue from its direct consumer business. Volvo Cars is also committed to an ongoing reduction of its carbon footprint, with the ambition to be a climate-neutral company by 2040.
