STRONG EARLY DEMAND FOR ALL-NEW VOLVO XC90

The all-new Volvo XC90 is proving to be a hit with customers even before it has appeared in showrooms, with over 16,000 orders for the brand new seven-seat SUV already received.

“These strong order numbers are very encouraging and it shows that customers obviously like what they see in the new XC90,” says Håkan Samuelsson, President and CEO of Volvo Cars. “The new XC90 represents the new Volvo Cars and it is the first in a series of new cars to come, as we renew our entire product portfolio in the coming years.”

The new XC90 marks the beginning of a new chapter in Volvo’s history, capturing its future design direction, incorporating its own range of new technologies and utilising its new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) technology and Drive-E powertrain family.

The end result is a visually striking, premium quality seven seat SUV with world leading safety features, new powertrain technologies, an unrivalled combination of power and fuel efficiency and a superlative interior finish.

Series production of the new XC90 at the Torslanda plant in Sweden started in the last week of January, and deliveries to customers will commence this spring.

Volvo XC60 the most popular premium mid-size SUV in Europe in 2014

Volvo Cars’ ability to compete effectively against its competitors was underlined in 2014 after independently compiled registration figures from IHS Automotive/Polk show that the Volvo XC60 was the best-selling premium mid-size SUV in Europe*.

The numbers underline that the XC60, which has been Volvo’s best-selling model since 2009, continues to be an outstanding choice in the highly competitive mid-size SUV segment.

The numbers issued by IHS Automotive/Polk look at Europe-wide sales by model and segment, and show that a total of 70,257 units of the XC60 were registered around Europe in 2014. That is a better performance than all corresponding models from Volvo Cars’ competitors in the premium mid-size SUV segment. The XC60 is especially popular in important markets for Volvo such as Sweden, the United Kingdom and Russia.

The XC60’s excellent sales performance is another indicator of Volvo Cars’ strong growth in recent years and future potential. The Volvo XC60 was launched in 2008 and has steadily improved its sales performance every year since, no mean feat in the car industry.

In 2012 the XC60 breached the 100,000 mark for the first time with 106,203 retail units sold. Last year, the car set a new annual sales record of 136,993 retail units sold around the globe. In April of last year, the car passed the 500,000 retail units sold mark, a mere five years after its introduction.

The XC60 has global appeal and is not just popular in Europe. In China, the XC60 has been Volvo Cars’ best-selling model in recent years, while the model is also an important sales driver in the United States. In January of this year, the XC60 continued its upward trend and recorded a 16 per cent year-on-year global retail sales increase.

*Europe = Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom.

Volvo Car Group in 2013/14

For the 2013 financial year, Volvo Car Group recorded an operating profit of 1,919 MSEK (66 MSEK in 2012). Revenue over the period amounted to 122,245 MSEK (124,547 MSEK), while net income amounted to 960 MSEK (-542 MSEK). Global retail sales for the year amounted to 427,840 (421,951) cars, an increase of 1.4 per cent compared to 2012. The operating profit was the result of cost control and strong sales and was further tangible proof of Volvo Car Group’s progress in implementing its transformation plan. For the full year 2014, global sales reached 465,866 cars, an increase of 8.9 per cent versus 2013. Full year financials for 2014 will be announced during the first quarter of 2015.

About Volvo Car Group

Volvo has been in operation since 1927. Today, Volvo Cars is one of the most well-known and respected car brands in the world with sales of 465,866 in 2014 in about 100 countries. Volvo Cars has been under the ownership of the Zhejiang Geely Holding (Geely Holding) of China since 2010. It formed part of the Swedish Volvo Group until 1999, when the company was bought by Ford Motor Company of the US. In 2010, Volvo Cars was acquired by Geely Holding.

As of December 2014, Volvo Cars had over 25,000 employees worldwide. Volvo Cars head office, product development, marketing and administration functions are mainly located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Cars head office for China is located in Shanghai. The company’s main car production plants are located in Gothenburg (Sweden), Ghent (Belgium) and Chengdu (China), while engines are manufactured in Skövde (Sweden) and Zhangjiakou (China) and body components in Olofström (Sweden).