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Volvo Cars said on Wednesday that it sold 503,127 vehicles in 2015, stressing that it was the first time it has sold more than half a million cars in its 89-year history.
The new sales record, according to a statement , underscores the strength and sustainability of Volvo’s ongoing operational and financial transformation, adding that 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.
According to the statement obtained by AUTO REPORT AFRICA, Volvo reported strong sales from all three core global regions in 2015 as sales in Europe rose 10.6 per cent for the year to 269 249, representing 53.5 per cent of the 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, the statement said.
These upward sales trends, it noted, are expected to continue in 2016.
Meanwhile, the second of Volvo’s all new model range – the new S90 premium sedan was revealed to the public at this year’s North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit and is scheduled to go on sale in South Africa towards the end of 2016.
“We are delighted to report that 2015 was a year of record sales,” said Håkan Samuelsson, chief executive of Volvo Cars. “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 the coming years.”
The statement said in the years to come, Volvo will continue to reposition itself to compete with global premium rivals and 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.
Already spearheaded by the all-new XC90 and S90, Volvo’s larger 90 series and 60 series cars will be built on the new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) platform. 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.
