In May, Volvo Cars sold a total of 64,111 cars, up from 44,830 cars in the same period last year. Growth was mainly driven by a strong demand in the US and, in Europe, a recovery from a sales drop in May last year related to the Covid-19 pandemic. In China, where sales returned to growth around this time last year, the company reported a steady increase of 11.7 per cent.
Sales in the January-May period landed at 312,533 cars, up 49.9 per cent compared with the same period last year.
Sales of the Recharge line-up of chargeable models, with a fully electric or plug-in hybrid powertrain, remained strong in Europe during the month of May, and represented 40 per cent of the company’s overall sales in the region. Following a strong sales growth in the US, Recharge vehicles accounted for 20.8 per cent of its total sales. Globally, Recharge cars accounted for 23.7 per cent of the total sales volume during May.
In the US, sales increased by 38.9 per cent in May compared with the same month last year, mainly driven by a strong demand for the XC90 and XC60. Total sales reached 13,221 cars, an increase from 9,519 units sold in the same period 2020, when many states implemented stay-at-home orders due to the pandemic.
European sales grew to 24,761 cars for the month of May, up 65.1 per cent compared to the same period last year. The increase was mainly driven by markets that have started to recover after last year’s pandemic-related shutdowns.
China, Volvo Cars’ biggest national market, reported its 14th consecutive month of sales growth in May, with total sales reaching 16,895 cars. The increase was led by a continued high demand for the locally assembled XC60 and S90 models.
In May, the XC40 was the top selling model with sales of 20,350 cars (10,891 cars in May 2020), followed by the XC60, with total sales of 19,835 cars (13,226), and the Volvo XC90 with 9,961 cars (6,572).