Volvo deliveries were down 7% in 2025. 710,000 units or 53,000 fewer than 2024. In these tring times for the car industry no big deal. So what is hot and what is not?
Models: The XC60 (picture above) did OK and there were some new model, which combined did the total no harm. The rest of the range was down and in some cases substantially. The EM90 electric MPV (picture bottom of page) made for the Chinese market seems to have flopped badly from the very beginning. It's Chinese brands that are dominating their home BEV market.
Data & picture source: Volvo Cars.
The US is the only region that has improved but I wonder if that was due to customers buying before prices rise and the termination of incentives. If so, 2026 will reveal that.
From the end user side, I see a massive upmarket move from Volvo in the past 20 years, that was not based on empty declarations (see Nissan or Jaguar) but a massive campaign to bring out better, but most importantly cooler products leading to a massive sales increase from 2010 to 2024.
ReplyDeleteThe quality increase (starting in the Ford years already) was followed by a massive raising of prices in recent years, that the market accepted (as they were not just more modern, but better). But if I look at the past few years, Volvo was no longer developing but deconstructing, making its offers lesser, (e.g. removing the entry level diesel engines prematurely, and not investing into its existing palette).
The current sales results root from this post 2020 trend, paired with the slower pace of electrification.
An interesting observation. I rarely see Volvo cars on the road nor have any of my friends ever owned one so my knowledge of them isn't great, other than what I read about them.
DeleteWell, it was number 5 here last year... :)
DeleteI also think that brands follow different marketing strategies (and pricing) per regions.
Premium marques in NZ tend to be higher priced and specified.
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