Volvo’s EV boosts sales

Volvo delivered a record number of cars in March with the launch of its fully electric small SUV, the EX30, boosting sales.

The Swedish marque’s registrations last month climbed by 25 per cent from a year earlier to 78,970 units, the highest number Volvo Cars has achieved for any single month. It first-quarter sales overall rose by 12 per cent.

The company says deliveries of its fully electric cars jumped by 43 per cent and accounted for 23 per cent of all sales globally last month.

“We are making good progress towards our annual sales target of at least 15 per cent growth,” says Volvo Cars in a statement. “In the months ahead, we will focus on ramping up sales of our EX30 [pictured].”

The company said in January that it remained confident of “tremendous growth” in the electric-vehicle market. It expects this sector to account for half of its sales volumes by the middle of the decade and to sell only EVs by 2030.

Total registrations in Europe, Volvo Cars’ biggest market, grew by 33 per cent in March with sales of fully electric cars increasing by 66 per cent compared to a year ago.

In the US, total sales rose 50 per cent, lifted by plug-in hybrids, while deliveries of fully electric cars declined 66 per cent.

For the first quarter, overall sales rose by 12 per cent year-on-year, driven by a 27 per cent rise in battery EVs.

Last week, Tesla posted a decline in quarterly deliveries for the first time in nearly four years and missed Wall Street estimates.