Volvo is having an absolutely cracking year of sales, with the company recording record-setting profits for the first-half of 2021 on the back of a staggering 41 per cent increase in global sales.
Volvo posted a 26 per cent increase in revenue and an increase of 9.4 per cent for its earnings before interest and taxes during the first six months of this year. This was thanks to the sale of 380,757 new vehicles around the world in the first half of this year. That’s up 41 per cent on the 269,962 vehicles it sold during the first half of 2020, and up on the 340,826 vehicles it sold during the first half of 2019.
According to Volvo, the first half results in terms of sales and operating profit are the highest the company has ever reported for a half-year period, in its 94-year history. Volvo says that its 12-month rolling sales volume of 775,000 units produced is just 25,000 short of the company’s initial forecasts from more than 10 years ago. Hakan Samuelsson, chief executive of Volvo Cars, said:
“The company continued to grow strongly despite the industry-wide semiconductor shortage, but more importantly, we demonstrated that we are a leader of the ongoing transformation in the automotive industry. Volvo Cars has a decade-long track record of successful transformation. The car industry is changing more than ever, and we have a strong determination to be the fastest transformer.”
The XC40 small SUV has been the most popular model so far this year, with global sales topping 118,121 units (up 72.8 per cent on 2020 H1), followed by the XC60 mid-size SUV with 113,500 units (up 44.1 per cent), and then the XC90 large SUV which reported 54,177 sales (up 42.9 per cent).
Interestingly, demand for Volvo’s electrified offerings is growing at a rapid rate, with the company’s ‘Recharge’ variants accounting for a quarter of total sales. Volvo says that this 25 per cent share represents the highest level of brand electrification compared to its rivals.
As for the remainder of the year, Volvo expects semiconductor shortages to cause “flat sales and revenue” as we approach 2022, although it says customer demand is “strong”.
In Australia, Volvo Car (excluding trucks) has sold 5439 vehicles in the first six months of this year. That’s up 61.4 per cent on the same period last year. It’s also quite a lot more than the 3824 vehicles it sold during the same period in 2019, before coronavirus.
