Volvo’s push towards premium and eco-friendly saloons and SUVs seems to be paying off after it recorded its bests first quarter of sales in its 94 year history. The Swedish brand reveals that a notable increase of sales in China and the USA from January to March aided in achieving its new record.
Total sales during the first three months of 2021 amounted to 185 698 cars, up by 131 889 in the same period last year. In Europe and the USA, the company managed to improve sales compared to the first quarter last year while also managing to cope with the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. China has by now recovered from the impact of the pandemic which peaked in in the first quarter of 2020.
For the month of March alone, Volvo sold 75 315 cars globally, up 62,3 per cent compared to the same month last year. 45 242 of these units were sold in China which equates to a 67,4 per cent increase over the previous year. Compared to the first quarter of 2021, sales are up by 117,7 per cent with the S90 being the most in-demand product.
US sales for the company reached 27 239 cars over all three months which translates to an increase of 39,8 per cent compared with the same period last year. March alone saw an 80,9 per cent increase with 9 924 units sold compared to the 5 487 sold in the same month of 2020.
In the first three months of 2021, the company’s European sales grew to 87 457 cars, up 24,0 per cent compared with the same period last year. The increase was mainly driven by markets that managed to cope with pandemic-related shutdowns as well as a strong sales increase in Sweden and the UK.
In March, the XC40 was the top-selling model with sales of 23 958 cars, followed by the XC60 with total sales of 21 186 cars and the XC90 with 9 893 cars.
