Volvo Claims Bumper Global Car Sales in March

Volvo Cars says it enjoys bumper global vehicle sales in March, up 25% compared to 2023.

The automaker publishes figures of 78,970 cars for the month worldwide, claiming an all-time high for global sales during a single month with the bulk of the sales in Europe followed by the U.S. Sales in China saw a slump.

Its range of electrified models, with both battery-electric or plug-in hybrid powertrains, grew 24% compared with the same period last year, resulting in 33,558 cars sold, which makes up a 42% share of all cars sold globally with the majority of the sales still coming from internal-combustion powertrains.

Sales of BEVs amounted to 23% of all cars sold during March. Total sales for the first quarter of 2024 amounted to 182,687 cars sold globally, an increase of 12% compared with the same period last year.

European sales in March grew 33% compared with the same month last year, reaching 39,756 cars. Electrified cars in the region had a similar growth rate of 34%, resulting in 24,856 cars sold. Sales of electrified cars accounted for 63% of all cars sold in Europe this March.

In the U.S., sales of Volvo cars reached 15,315, an increase of 50% compared with March 2023. Sales of electrified cars grew 25% compared with the same period last year and accounted for 24% of all cars sold in the country.

Sales in China amounted to 14,005 cars, an increase of 21% compared with the same period last year. Yet, with just 1,039 electrified cars sold in the massive market, the brand suffered a decrease of 28% probably owing to the fierce price war being fought by domestic BEV automakers.

ICE models secured the top sellers charts in China. The Volvo XC60 led the way with sales reaching 22,402 cars, up from 18,090 in 2023, followed by the XC40 with total sales of 20,557 cars, just one more than the previous year, and the XC90 at 10,826 cars, up from 9,828.

Björn Annwall, Volvo Cars’ chief commercial officer and deputy CEO, says: “These numbers reflect the strength of our strategy and product diversity – offering fully electric cars alongside plug-in hybrids and mild hybrids in the right mix.”