Volvo Cars crosses half-a-million sales mark for the first time in history

Premium carmaker Volvo Cars sold 503,127 cars in 2015, the first time it has sold more than half a million cars in its 89-year history.

The new sales record underscores the company’s new product strategy, with global sales boosted in the later stages of 2015 by the new XC90 SUV.

Sales in Europe rose 10.6 percent for the year to 269,249, representing 53.5 percent of total global volume. Volvo’s revival in the US gained momentum, with sales up 24.3 percent in 2015. China was flat amid a challenging sales environment, but looked stronger at the end of the year, with sales up 11.4 percent in the fourth quarter.

Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo Cars commented, “I am delighted to report that 2015 was a year of record sales. Now with a successful 2015 behind us, Volvo is about to enter the second phase of its global transformation. Once completed, Volvo will have ceased being a minor automotive player and taken its position as a truly global premium car company. More records will tumble in coming years.”

Volvo plans to entrench its position in future as a global maker of hybrids, with a series of four- and three-cylinder hybrid engines. It also plans to develop an all-electric car for the first time. The carmaker expects at least 10 percent of its annual sales to be electrified vehicles in the medium term.