Volvo is on a roll this year, posting strong three-quarter global sales and now, as we head into November, the company is posting strong year-to-date (YTD) figures through the first 10 months. It has also set a sales record in Australia.
The Swedish-based, Chinese-owned company has sold 581,464 vehicles around the world in the first 10 months of this year, which is up 12.6 per cent on the same period last year. Of those, 25.5 per cent were electrified models, and 3.1 per cent fully electric models.
However, due to the global chip shortage the company did experience a dip for the month of October, specifically. It reported 50,815 sales around the world, which is down 22.2 per cent. Volvo says the supplies shortage impacted production but not demand.
The most popular market region has been Europe, which contributed 242,495 sales in the 10-month period, up 6.1 per cent, followed by China with 143,616 sales (up 10.5 per cent), and then the USA with 104,066 units (up 23.5 per cent).
As for the most popular model, globally, it has been the XC60. Through the 10 months Volvo sold 177,995 examples of the mid-size SUV. That’s up from 149,855 units in 2020 in the same period. It was followed by the XC40 small SUV with 170,907 sales (up from 142,159), and then the XC90 with 89,041 sales (up from 70,195).
Here in Australia the company has sold 7932 vehicles across the first 10 months. That’s up an impressive 32.3 per cent compared with the same period in 2020. This means it has already surpassed the 2020 full-year tally of 7700 units. Even in 2019, the company reported 7779 sales, which, as far as we can see, was the record for annual figures in Australia (and a record year for global sales).
The most popular model here has been the XC40, contributing 3498 units, followed by the XC60 with 3065 sales, and then the XC90 with 1163 units.
Those XC40 numbers are expected to snowball through the rest of this year and into next, as the local arm just launched the Recharge Pure Electric variant. Volvo Cars Australia managing director, Stephen Connor, said:
“Our entire 2021 allocation of XC40 Recharge Pure Electric sold out on pre-order, and the orders for the Pure Electric are fast approaching that for our internal combustion engine cars. In September our XC40 Recharge Pure Electric made up 21 per cent of our overall sales. Our forward order book for Recharge heading into next year is very strong.”
