OREANDA-NEWS. Volvo Cars, the premium car maker, sold 503,127 cars in 2015, the first time it has sold more than half a million cars in its 89 year history.

The new sales record underscores the strength and sustainability of Volvo’s ongoing operational and financial transformation. It is also an endorsement of the company’s new product strategy, with global sales boosted in the later stages of 2015 by the new XC90 SUV.

Volvo reported strong sales from all three core global regions. Sales in Europe rose 10.6 per cent for the year to 269,249, representing 53.5 per cent of total global volume. Volvo’s revival in the US gained momentum with sales in the US up 24.3 per cent in 2015 while China was flat amid a challenging sales environment, but looked stronger at the end of the year with sales up 11.4 per cent in the fourth quarter.

These upward sales trends are expected to continue in 2016.

Location Front Quarter Volvo S90 Mussel Blue

The second of Volvo’s all new model range – the S90 premium sedan – is being revealed to the public at this year’s North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit and will go on sale in the US in the Spring. In four years’ time, Volvo will have renewed its entire model range. 

“I am delighted to report that 2015 was a year of record sales,” said H?kan Samuelsson, chief executive. “Now, with a successful 2015 behind us, Volvo is about to enter the second phase of its global transformation. Once completed, Volvo will have ceased being a minor automotive player and taken its position as a truly global premium car company. More records will tumble in coming years.”

The second phase of Volvo’s transformation does not lack ambition.

In coming years Volvo will continue to reposition its brand to compete with its global premium rivals. It will continue to revive its operations in the US and develop its global manufacturing footprint. In the medium term, it will continue to grow in China, double its market share in Europe and increase its sales globally to 800.000 cars. It will introduce an entirely new model range, embed its new engine technologies and maintain its position as the leader in car safety and autonomous drive technologies.

In coming years, Volvo’s larger 90 series and 60 series cars will be built on its Scalable Product Architecture (SPA). Volvo will also implement a global small car strategy, introducing the quality and technical sophistication that is available on SPA to smaller cars on its Compact Modular Architecture (CMA).

Volvo will in future entrench its position as a leading global maker of hybrids with a series of four and three cylinder hybrid engines, offering world beating combinations of power and emissions.

It will also develop an all-electric car for the first time. Volvo expects at least 10 per cent of its annual sales to be electrified vehicles in the medium term.

Volvo Cars has made significant progress since being acquired by Zhejiang Geely Holdings in 2010, not least in expanding its manufacturing footprint. The announcement this year of its new factory in South Carolina in the US means Volvo now has an industrial presence in all three key global regions – Asia, Europe and the US.

Note to editors: 

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

 

 

December

  

January – December
               
 

2014

2015

Change

  

2014

2015

Change
               

China

8 503

9 822

15,5%

  

81 574

81 588

0,0%
               

USA

4 920

9 341

89,9%

  

56 371

70 047

24,3%
               

Sweden

6 265

9 081

44,9%

  

61 357

71 200

16,0%
               

Western Europe

18 874

24 451

29,5%

  

182 157

198 049

8,7%
               

Other markets

8 483

9 430

11,2%

  

84 407

82 243

-2,6%
               

TOTAL

47 045

62 125

32,1%

  

465 866

503 127

8,0%
               

 -------------------------------

 

Volvo Car Group in 2014/15

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 2015, global sales reached a record 503,127 cars, an increase of 8 per cent versus 2014. 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 503,127 in 2015 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 Sk?vde (Sweden) and Zhangjiakou (China) and body components in Olofstr?m (Sweden).