Volvo Sold 65,290 Cars In October 2020, 7.1% Up From 2019

The healthy sales in October by Volvo is attributed to strong demand from China and the US. 

Much like Geely which has recently posted healthy sales figure for October 2020, its Swedish subsidiary Volvo too appears to have quite a good sales month last month. 

Volvo has recently announced that it had sold 65,290 cars globally in October this year. This figure represents an increase of about 7.1% over the same month last year, and is attributed mainly to the double digit sales growth in both China and the United States. 

While sales in Europe has declined by 4.6% in October 2020 compared to the same month the year prior, with only 28,154 units leaving Volvo showrooms in contrast to the 29,510 cars registered in October 2019, Volvo sales in China and the US saw a 19.1% and a staggering 21.4% increase in sales in these respective regions. Chinese and American Volvo sales in October 2020 amounted to 16,723 and 10,691 units, up significantly from the 14,039 and paltry 8,807 units sold in October 2019.  

Moreover, Volvo has also seen a healthy 13% rise in sales in other parts of the world, which accounted for 9,772 sales in October of this year, compared to the 8,603 units sold throughout the same time last year. 

As expected, it was the SUVs in the Volvo lineup that flew off the dealership forecourts. Volvo SUVs accounted for 73.3% of its total sales last month, up from 65.3% in October 2019. The smallest SUV within the range, the Volvo XC40 proved to be the top-seller over the last 31 days, beating out the larger XC60 mid-sized SUV and the XC90 three row SUV for the crown this month prior. 

Continuing on Volvo’s lineup however, and looking at the annual sales figure to date for 2020, it would appear that the Volvo XC60 is actually the bigger seller for the Scandinavian automaker, with nearly 150,000 of these mid-sized SUVs sold from January till October. The XC40 and XC90 meanwhile is relegated to second and third place respectively by this metric, selling 142,159 and 70,195 units apiece. 

Having said that, the XC40 looks to be the only model in the Volvo lineup to have a net positive sales growth this year to date, with sales up by 30%. The XC60 and the XC90 on the other hand have experienced a drop in sales over the same time last year. In fact, Volvo only sold 516,418 cars in the first 10 months of the year. While it may sound healthy, it actually represents a 9.2% decline in sales from the same time in 2019. Thereby indicating the underlying impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the greater auto industry this year. 

Nevertheless, Volvo’s push towards electrification seems to be paying dividends as sales of its fully electric of plug-in hybrid Recharge models more than doubled over the 10 months of 2020, and is now making up 16% of global Volvo sales. Europe especially, has seen a massive 27% growth for these lower emissions electrified models. The one upside perhaps to the 17.6% decline in sales over in that region year-on-year. 

PRESS RELEASE: Volvo Cars global sales continued to grow in October, with volumes up 7.1 per cent compared with the same period last year, driven by double digit sales increases in China and the US.

The company sold 65,290 cars during the month and the volume growth was driven by a continued strong demand for Volvo Cars’ award-winning SUV range.

The share of Recharge models, with a fully electric or plug-in hybrid powertrain, more than doubled in the first ten months, compared with the same period last year, and now make up 16.0 per cent of global sales. In Europe, the share was 27.0 per cent the same period.

In the first ten months, Volvo Cars sold 516,418 cars, down 9.2 per cent compared with the same period last year.

In China, sales reached 16,723 cars, up 19.1 per cent compared with October last year. In the first ten months of the year, sales grew by 5.2 per cent, compared with the same period last year.

US sales in October continued to grow year-on-year during the month and reached 10,691 cars, up 21.4 per cent compared with the same month last year. In the first ten months, US sales declined by 2.3 per cent to 84,295 cars, compared with the same period last year.

Volvo Cars’ sales in Europe reached 28,154 cars in October, down 4.6 per cent versus the same month last year. In the the first ten months of the year, sales declined by 17.6 per cent year-on-year.

In October, the XC40 compact SUV was the top selling model for Volvo Cars, followed by the XC60 mid-size SUV and the XC90 large SUV. During the month, SUVs accounted for 73.3 per cent of the company’s total sales, up from 65.3 per cent in same month last year.

A detailed break-up of regional sales is given below:

During the first ten months, the XC60 was the top selling model with total sales of 149,855 cars (2019: 163,827 cars), followed by the XC40 with 142,159 cars (2019: 108,295 cars) and the XC90 with 70,195 cars (2019: 80,010 cars)