OREANDA-NEWS. April 03, 2015. With the all-new Volvo XC90 in the middle of its launch phase, almost 24,000 pre-orders or close to half of the expected full-year volume have already been signed for the new car. This is a clear statement of the interest for the first new model based on Volvo’s in-house developed Scalable Product Architecture (SPA). First deliveries of the all-new XC90 to customers will start later this spring.

First quarter retail sales figures show that Volvo Cars’ XC model range continues to grow in popularity, with sales of the Volvo XC60 and XC70 crossover models growing by 17 and 23 per cent respectively over the period. This underlines customers’ continued interest in the XC range and further strengthens the outlook for the all-new XC90.

Globally, the company reported first quarter retail sales of 107,721 cars with growth in Europe and the US market.

In Europe, Volvo Cars’ key markets UK and Germany both reported solid growth in quarter one with sales increasing 6.7 per cent and 7.1 per cent, respectively. The Volvo XC60 and V40 models were the growth drivers in Europe which reported total retail sales of 43,522 cars.

Sweden continues to perform strongly with a 7.9 per cent increase for the first quarter, outperforming the market and retaining close to a 20 per cent share of the market. Sales in the United States were up by 0.2 per cent to 13,723 cars for the first quarter, with strong demand for the XC60 and XC70 models. China sales amounted to 17,311 cars, where the Volvo XC60 crossover was the best-selling model, followed by the S60L sedan which will soon arrive in a Twin Engine petrol plug-in hybrid version developed for the Chinese market.

“The fantastic reception for the all-new Volvo XC90 gives me confidence that the car will meet our customers’ high expectations once we start delivering the first XC90s later this spring,” says Alain Visser, Senior Vice President Marketing, Sales and Customer Service at Volvo Cars. “We are well-positioned to deliver another year of record sales in 2015.”

Retail sales status (deliveries to end customers) for Volvo Car Group is as follows:

 

 

March

  

January – March
               
 

2014

2015

Change

  

2014

2015

Change
               

China

7 098

6 620

-6,7%

  

17 409

17 311

-0,6%
               

USA

5 915

5 916

0,0%

  

13 698

13 723

0,2%
               

Sweden

5 288

5775

9,2%

  

13 057

14 093

7,9%
               

Western Europe

20 853

20 509

-1,6%

  

43 460

43 522

0,1%
               

Other markets

8 696

8 067

-7,2%

  

20 546

19 072

-7,2%
               

TOTAL

47 850

46 887

-2,0%

  

108 170

107 721

-0,4%

The Volvo XC60 was the best-selling model in the first quarter with 36,709 sold cars (2014: 31,284), followed by the Volvo V40 and V40 Cross Country for which deliveries reached a total of 24,988 cars (2014: 25,185). The V60 and V60 Cross Country models were third best selling at 14,002 cars (2014: 15,775).