Volvo Cars, the premium car maker, has reported a third consecutive year of record sales in 2016, increasing 6.2 per cent compared to 2015 to 534,332 cars, underlining the breadth and depth of the company’s ongoing global transformation.
The record 2016 was driven by solid growth in all major sales regions, including double-digit increases in its two largest markets China and the United States and a strong performance in Western Europe. Looking ahead, Volvo is confident that 2017 will be another record year in terms of sales.
Sales of the new top-of-the-line 90 series cars were the main growth driver globally, led by the Volvo XC90 large premium SUV for which sales rose 125 per cent versus 2015, highlighting the success of the company’s new design and engineering direction and boding well for the future as more new models are revealed in coming years.
Meanwhile, the XC60 mid-size premium SUV established another new annual sales record of 161,092 cars in its ninth year on the market, having increased sales every year since it was introduced in 2008.
December | January – December | ||||||
2015 | 2016 | Change | 2015 | 2016 | Change | ||
China | 9 822 | 10 171 | 3,6% | 81 588 | 90 930 | 11,5% | |
USA | 9 341 | 10 129 | 8,4% | 70 047 | 82 726 | 18,1% | |
Sweden | 9 081 | 7 726 | -14,9% | 71 200 | 70 268 | -1,3% | |
Western Europe | 24 451 | 23 769 | -2,8% | 198 049 | 206 144 | 4,1% | |
Other markets | 9 430 | 9 009 | -4,5% | 82 243 | 84 264 | 2,5% | |
TOTAL | 62 125 | 60 804 | -2,1% | 503 127 | 534 332 | 6,2% | |
Globally, the Volvo XC60 was the best-selling model in 2016 with 161,092 cars sold (2015: 159,617), followed by the Volvo V40/V40 Cross Country with 101,380 sold cars (106,631). The XC90 was third with 91,522 cars sold (40,621)