Volvo Cars has just announced its first quarter results. For Q1 2022, the Swedish automaker sold 148,295 vehicles globally, down -20% year-on-year (185,700 cars in Q1 2021). This is due to supply chain constraints – there’s a shortage for a specific component, which will also impact production during the second quarter.
The automaker also had to contend with market disturbances caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and Covid-19 lockdowns in Asia. Volvo Cars CEO Jim Rowan said: “In the first few months of 2022, the war in Ukraine has destroyed lives and displaced millions of innocent people. The same war has also sent already rising inflation to new heights and further disrupted supply chains that were already fragile.”
Of all the cars Volvo sold in the first three months of the year, 34% (or nearly 50,000 units) of which were the electrified Recharge models. Out of that, 8% or close to 12,000 units were fully electric cars. This marks an on-year growth of 9% and 6% respectively.
The bestselling Volvo model was once again the XC60 with nearly 45,000 deliveries, followed by the XC40 (ICE & PHEV) at 34,400 units and the XC90 at 22,000 units. Its top market was China with 35,700 deliveries, though the number went down -21% from Q1 2021 due to ongoing lockdowns in the country. It sold 22,800 cars in the US (down -16%), 12,300 cars in Sweden (down -36%), and 11,100 cars in the UK (down -20%).
Despite the sales slump, Volvo Cars remains optimistic about its target for the year. “When summarising Volvo Cars’ performance during this first quarter, I am incredibly pleased that we have delivered such stable results,” Rowan said, adding that “the strategic direction remains clear and very much in focus.”
“The fastest transformer in the industry, a fully electric brand with direct consumer relations, and lower carbon emissions is our way forward. To achieve our ambitions, we will increase our pace of product development, strengthen the resilience of our supply chain, and accelerate our digital and software capabilities,” he explained. For the full year 2022, Volvo Cars expects continued high growth of fully electric cars.
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