Volvo Cars sold 581,464 cars in the first 10 months of 2021, up 12.6 per cent compared with the same period last year.
In October, Volvo Cars’ global sales reached 50,815 cars, down 22.2 per cent compared to the same period last year. The decline was related to a shortage of components which affected production, but the demand for Volvo Cars’ products remained strong.
The company also saw the sales of electrified cars increasing. The share of cars with a fully electric or plug-in hybrid powertrain, the so-called Recharge models, amounted to 25.5 per cent of all cars sold globally for the first 10 months of the year to 31 October. For the month of October, the share of Recharge cars accounted for 31.5 per cent of total sales, as the number of electrified vehicles continues to rise globally.
Sales of Volvo Cars’ fully electric models reached 3.1 per cent of the overall sales, 18,261 cars, for the first 10 months of the year and increased to 5.6 per cent, 2,841 cars, for the month of October. The growth was related to a planned ramp up in production. During the month of October, Volvo Cars also started production of the fully electric C40 Recharge in Ghent.
Volvo Cars’ sales in the US reached 104,066 cars in the first 10 months of the year, up 23.5 per cent compared with the same period last year. For the month of October, sales reached 8,701 cars, of which Recharge cars accounted for 24.1 per cent of the overall sales.
Sales in China for the January-to-October period landed at 143,616 cars, up 10.5 per cent compared with the same period last year. In October, the number of cars sold reached 11,006 cars, a decline of 34.2 per cent compared to October 2020, primarily due to a shortage of supply which affected production.
Volvo Cars’ sales in Europe reached 242,495 cars in the first 10 months of the year, up 6.1 per cent compared with the same period last year. The sales performance for the month of October was affected by the shortage of available cars, which resulted in a decline to 22,124 cars. However, the demand was strong and resulted in a pick up in sales in markets such as Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Globally, the XC60 continued to be the best-selling model for the company in the January-to-October period, retailing 177,995 cars (2020: 149,855), followed by the XC40 with total sales of 170,907 cars (2020: 142,159 units) and the XC90 with 89,041 cars sold (2020: 70,195 units).
A detailed break-up of regional sales is given below:
| October | January- October | |||||
| 2020 | 2021 | Change | 2020 | 2021 | Change | |
| Europe | 28,181 | 22,124 | -21.5% | 228,514 | 242,495 | 6.1% |
| Recharge | 10,081 | 10,369 | 2.9% | 64,679 | 102,375 | 58.3% |
| - Plug-in hybrid | 10,079 | 8,712 | -13.6% | 64,677 | 90,836 | 40.4% |
| - Fully electric | 2 | 1,657 | 82,750% | 2 | 11,537 | 576,850% |
| China | 16,723 | 11,006 | -34.2% | 130,001 | 143,616 | 10.5% |
| Recharge | 568 | 1,230 | 116.5% | 4,188 | 8,394 | 100.4% |
| - Plug-in hybrid | 568 | 1,142 | 101.1% | 4,188 | 7,844 | 87.3% |
| - Fully electric | - | 88 | - | - | 550 | - |
| US | 10,691 | 8,701 | -18.6% | 84,295 | 104,066 | 23.5% |
| Recharge | 997 | 2,102 | 110.8% | 4,179 | 18,131 | 333.9% |
| - Plug-in hybrid | 995 | 1,295 | 30.2% | 4,177 | 12,906 | 209.9% |
| - Fully electric | 2 | 807 | 40,250% | 2 | 5,225 | 261,150% |
| Other | 9,695 | 8,984 | -7.3% | 73,608 | 91,287 | 24.0% |
| Recharge | 1,094 | 2,285 | 108.9% | 8,127 | 19,168 | 135.9% |
| - Plug-in hybrid | 1,094 | 1,996 | 82.4% | 8,127 | 10,090 | 124.2% |
| - Fully electric | - | 289 | - | - | 951 | - |
| Total | 65,290 | 50,815 | -22.2% | 516,418 | 581,464 | 12.6% |
| Recharge | 12,740 | 15,986 | 25.5% | 81,173 | 148,068 | 82.4% |
| - Plug-in hybrid | 12,736 | 13,145 | 3.2% | 81,169 | 129,803 | 59.9% |
| - Fully electric | 4 | 2,841 | 70,925% | 4 | 18,261 | 456,525% |
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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 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 and for Americas in Mahwah, NJ. The company’s main car production plants are located in Gothenburg (Sweden), Ghent (Belgium), South Carolina (US), Chengdu and Daqing (China).
Under its company purpose, Volvo Cars aims to provide customers with the Freedom to Move in a personal, sustainable and safe way. This purpose is reflected in 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, half of its sales to be online and half of its software to be in-house. Volvo Cars is also committed to an ongoing reduction of its carbon footprint, with the ambition to be a climate-neutral company by 2040.
