In April, Volvo Cars sold 31,760 cars, posting a 43.8% drop from the same month last year due to the coronavirus pandemic that continues to plague Europe and the United States. In the meantime, the trend turned positive in China in April thanks to a gradual return to normal for the influx of customers at the dealerships.
In the period from January to April, global sales of Volvo Cars reached 163,649 units, a decline of 24.9% compared to the same period last year.
The percentage of sales attributable to Volvo Cars’ Recharge range doubled in the first four months of the year compared to the same period of 2019, from 7% to 14%. ‘Recharge’ is the name used for all rechargeable Volvo cars, with a 100% electric drive or plug-in hybrid.
Sales in China stood at 14,724 cars in April, up 20.8% from April last year. In the first four months of the current year, sales decreased by 15.6% compared to the same period of 2019.
During the month, sales on the U.S. market decreased by 53.8% compared to April 2019 and were limited to a total of 3,866 units. Most federal states have enabled platforms that allow orders to be finalized from home, which has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of customers who have gone to dealerships. Between January and April, sales in the United States decreased by 23.3% compared to the first four months of 2019, reaching 23,351 cars.
Volvo Cars’ sales in Europe were 9,283 units in April, thus down 66.8% on the same month last year. In the first four months of 2020, the company recorded a 30.3% decrease in year-over-year sales.
In April, European sales results were significantly affected by the traffic restrictions imposed on several important markets, including Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Belgium.
In April, the XC60 medium SUV was the best-selling model in the company, followed by the compact SUV XC40 and the large SUV XC90. Over the month, SUVs made up 66.3% of Volvo’s overall sales, up 62.4% from April last year.
In the first four months of the year, the XC60 was the best-selling car with a total of 47,838 units (2019: 62,804 units), followed by the XC40 of which 39,976 units were delivered (2019: 39,704) and the XC90 with 22,752 deliveries (2019: 30,027).
