For the first time in its illustrious 89-year history, Volvo Cars has achieved the momentous milestone of having crossed the half a million mark in terms of number of vehicles sold in a single year. 2015 brought with an unprecedented level of success for the Swedish carmaking firm which is testament to the company's on-going operational and financial transformation.
The company's sales figures were boosted by the updated Volvo XC90 premium SUV, which was launched during the latter half of 2015. On the whole, the company witnessed strong spurts of growth in its 3 main sales regions- Europe, America and China. European sales last year, which accounted for 53.5 per cent of the company's total sales, grew by 10.6 per cent whereas American sales jumped a whopping 24.3 per cent. Despite the Chinese market remaining relatively unchanged, sales figures in the 4th quarter of the year did see an 11.4 per cent rise. The rise in demand for Volvo's cars is expected to increase even more over the span of 2016.
The company aims on adding new products to their existing fleet and plans on expanding its global outreach by upping sales in fast developing countries like India. The Volvo S90 executive premium saloon, which is likely to arrive in India by end-2016, will be revealed at this year's North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit.
Speaking with regards to Volvo's momentous sales achievement, Hakan Samuelsson, President and Chief Executive of Volvo Cars said," 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."
The next phase in Volvo's transition will be to re-position itself as a worthy adversary to other premium rival brands like BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz. It's American and Chinese revival will continue in full swing as the company further develops its global manufacturing footprint. Volvo also intends on doubling its market share in Europe in the next few years. The company wants to build-up from last year's record sales figure with plans to surpass the 800,000 units sold mark. Besides a new range of cars, the company is also working on creating new technologies to improve engine performance, safety and to further enhance its autonomous technologies for the future.
Other updates in terms of engineering and design will include the increased implementation of shared vehicle platforms, which is a trend currently being adopted by many carmakers across the globe. The series 90 and series 60 cars will be built on Volvo's Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) whereas its planned global small-car strategy will see a range of smaller cars designed on its Compact Modular Architecture (CMA). In terms of green engineering, the company will continue making improvements on its 3- and 4- cylinder hybrid powertrains and is also in the process of developing its first fully-electric offering. By 2020 or so, the company is confident that at least 10 per cent of its annual sales will come from electric offerings.
