Despite a lockdown that stretched nearly 3 months, Volvo Car Malaysia had its best year ever in sales.
Volvo Car is on the rise globally. Ever since their Geely buy over, the company has been making competitive premium cars in every segment and giving their German rivals some serious headaches. Their cars are also designed from the get go to have a more timeless appeal, so the product life-cycles are a tad longer and facelifts don’t require dramatic redesigns. What’s more, the company has done all this while doubling down on its environmental and safety goals. Needless to say, the company has attracted a large and ever-growing fanbase and this is reflected in their sales, even locally.
Volvo Car Malaysia has shown 6 consecutive years of sales growth despite the pandemic, lockdowns, an economic crisis and a semiconductor shortage. In 2021, they sold 2,229 vehicles, 14.3% more than they did the year before. This exceeds their global sales growth of 5.6%. A 14.3% increase in sales year-on-year by itself is impressive, but the new yearly sales figure is also the best in the company’s history. 524 of those 2,229 units sold were in December 2021 alone.
Meeting its own goals for electrification, Volvo Car reported that 73% of all new Volvos sold feature Recharge powertrains, which is the marketing term for their electric and plug-in hybrid powertrains. This is a pretty amazing ratio given only about 27% of the vehicles in 2021 globally were Recharge models. In Malaysia, all five of Volvo’s current models are available as Recharge models. Those are the XC40 T5 Recharge, the S60 T8 Recharge, the XC60 T8 Recharge, the S90 T8 Recharge and the XC90 T8 Recharge.
Charles Frump, Managing Director of Volvo Car Malaysia, shared: “We are proud of our record-breaking achievements in 2021. Despite a challenging year, we have gained customers’ confidence in providing them with the freedom to move in a personal, sustainable and safe way. The collective efforts of our dealers and staff have laid the groundwork for an electrifying 2022, encouraging us to charge towards our goal of becoming a fully electric car company by 2030.”
Here’s the press release with more.
PRESS RELEASE
Volvo Cars established its presence in Malaysia in the early 1960s before formally establishing Volvo Car Malaysia in 1999. Since then, Volvo Car Malaysia has gone from strength to strength and built a network of 14 dealers across the country. The popularity and demand for Volvo cars locally had led to the establishment of the Volvo Car Manufacturing Malaysia in 1967, which is now Malaysia’s oldest and longest-running vehicle assembly plant. In 2016, Volvo Car Malaysia was the first market to locally assemble the XC90 PHEV outside of Sweden, paving the way for the assembly of other Volvo PHEVs whilst continuously providing a sustainable and safe driving experience. Volvo Car Malaysia sells premium-segment car models in two versions: sedans (S60 and S90) and SUVs (XC40, XC60 and XC90).
As of February 2021, it became the first automotive brand in Malaysia to offer a full range of PHEVs for all its models. In line with its global vision of becoming climate neutral by 2040, Volvo Car Malaysia is committed to bringing greater awareness on the current climate challenges to Malaysians and aims to become a leader in sustainability in the automotive industry through its product offerings, business operations, and local initiatives.
