Volvo cars report in the August sales show 4.6% down year-on-year. Also, there is a decrease in sales from previous months this year. It is the lowest number in over a year. During the first eight months of the year, the sales decreased by 12.5% to 379,631 units.
Furthermore, in terms of plug-in electric cars (Volvo Recharge), last month the company sold 9,582 units (down 13% year-over-year), which is 21.9% of the total volume. The Swedish brand explains that demand remains strong, especially for its Recharge models, but production is still limited, which affects sales. “The positive trend in production continued into August. However, the pace of normalization was affected by power cuts and Covid-19 outbreaks in China. In addition, lack of availability of components, notably semiconductors, continues to influence manufacturing output, which impacted Volvo Cars’ retail deliveries during the month.”
Interestingly, all-electric car sales improved by almost 52% year-over-year to 2,494, but the result is still about two times lower than the peak of 5,256 in March. Volvo Recharge result with BEVs sales 2,494 (up 52%) and 5.7% share. And PHEVs sales 7,088 (down 25%) and 16.2% share. Then, a total sales of 9,582 (down 13%) and 21.9% share.
Global sales
Volvo Cars’ US sales for the month reached 8,136 cars, down 23.9% compared with August last year, with Recharge models making up 17% of the total sales—down a bit from August 2021 (18.5%). Fully electric models accounted for 2.5% of US sales in August 2021, down from 6.6% in August 2021.
China sales went up by 31% in August to 17,179 cars compared to the same month last year. Recharge sales in China accounted for 7.8% of August 2022 sales, down from 8.4% in August 2021. Volvo Cars’ top-selling model for the month was the XC60 with sales of 16,161 cars (2021: 14,972 units), followed by the XC40 at 9,766 cars (2021: 11,716) and the XC90 at 7,678 cars (2021: 8,023 units). The positive trend in production continued into August, however, the pace of normalization was affected by power cuts and Covid-19 outbreaks in China. In addition, the lack of availability of components, notably semiconductors, continues to influence manufacturing output, which impacted Volvo Cars’ retail deliveries during the month.
European sales for August reached 10,995, down 15.8% compared with the same month last year. Sales of Recharge cars accounted for 48% of the total sales in the region during the month. Recharge sales in August 2021 accounted for 47% of European sales. All electric sales in August 2022 represented 13.2% of the total, up from 5.9% in August 2021. In the US, last month, a total of 1,380 plugs-in were sold, which is 30% less than a year ago (after a 58% decrease in July). Volvo Recharge models stand for 17% of the total Volvo volume.