Volvo has reported record sales in the first half of 2019, with the success of its SUV range helping the firm sell 340,286 cars – including strong growth in the UK market.
The Swedish company’s worldwide sales between January and June were up 7.3% on 2018, despite the struggles of the global car market. The growth has been driven by Volvo’s SUV range, which accounted for 60.7% of its total sales.
Volvo sold 30,026 cars in the UK in the first six months of 2019, a year-on-year increase of 30%. The firm also reported growth of 32% in Germany and 10.2% in China, despite the European and Chinese car markets continuing to decline.
Boss Håkan Samuelsson said the results showed Volvo was now “a real premium alternative” as a brand.
Those strong sales helped Volvo achieve record revenues of 130.1 billion SEK (£11 billion), a 5.9% year-on-year increase. The firm’s operating profit was down, owing to a series of cost-cutting measures and investment in research.
The Volvo XC60 SUV was Volvo’s best-selling model in the first half of 2019, with 50,946 sales. That was 0.1% down year on year, largely due to a fall in sales in Sweden. Volvo also sold 32,961 examples of the new Volvo XC40 small SUV, up 88.3% on 2018.
Samuelsson said the results reflected that "SUVs are the cars people are asking for right now", and added: "We've never had as good product as we have now."
Asked in a press conference whether the firm could expand its SUV line-up in the future to further capitalise on this demand, Samuelsson said there were no current plans – but added that "you should not exclude" the possibility. He hinted the firm was considering a larger SUV to sit above the XC90, and a compact crossover below the XC40.
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Interesting...
...that Volvo don't fare too well in the 2019 US JD Power survey, they were third from last recently with 204 faults per 100 cars, just above Land Rover (221) and holders of the wooden spoon FIAT (249).
Stylish Interior, emm
The V40 has a hopeless interior and Volvo are at the forefront of removing heating control buttons and dials by placing them on a touchscreen, something that's normally slated on Autocar forums.
Doing lots of things right
Volvo are succeeding because they are currently doing lots of things right. Making attractive on trend SUV vehicles, designing vehicles with stylish interiors, concentrating on comfort features. And in the specific case of the XC60, making a BIK Tax efficient hybrid available at a competitive lease cost. That’s why I’ve placed an order for my first ever Volvo.
Interiors
Im not sure I agree that their interiors are attractive? THe XC90's interior looked good when it was launched, but I find the 'oversized airvents with tiny buttons couplked with a large clunky screen with naff audio' a curious mix that seems to appeal to some.I think their interiors are dating faster than an M5 up the M6.