Volvo Cars has reported sales of 615,121 cars for the full year of 2022; and while down 12% compared to 2021, the share of fully electric Volvo cars reached 10.9% during the year, compared with 3.7% in 2021. The automotive manufacturer says its full-year sales performance was affected by challenges across the supply chain, as well as production restraints caused by component shortages and Covid-related lockdowns in China, adding that despite this, demand for Volvos remained robust, as in December the company sold 72,663 cars — up 12.8% compared with December 2021.
The overall share of ‘Recharge cars’ with pure electric and plug-in hybrid powertrains reached 43.8% during December 2022 — fully electric cars accounted for 20.1% of global sales. In the USA, the company sold 102,038 cars last year, down 16.5% compared to 2021, although December saw Volvo Cars sell 11,111 cars in the USA — up 6.4% compared to December 2021.
Sales in China for the year amounted to 162,322 cars, down 5.4% compared to 2021, although sales there during December amounted to 16,950 cars — up 15.8% compared to December 2021. In Europe, sales fell by 15.7% to 247,413 cars; in December, Volvo Cars sold 33,407 cars in Europe, up 17% compared to December 2021. Globally, the XC60 continued to be the best-selling model for the company in 2022, with the company selling 195,338 of these cars; the XC40 followed in second, with the XC90 third.