Volvo Cars reported on Thursday global sales of 153,316 vehicles in the first quarter of 2026, an 11% decline compared to the same period a year earlier.
Sales of fully electric cars rose 12% during the quarter, the company said, resulting in increased market share in the premium fully electric segment in Europe.
Fully electric models accounted for 23.7% of total sales, while plug-in hybrids made up 23.6%.
Together, electrified models represented 47.3% of all vehicles sold — the highest share among legacy premium carmakers, according to Volvo.
The Geely Holding-controlled automaker said the figures reflect “persistent challenges facing the automotive industry globally, in the form of continued pricing pressure, uncertain geopolitics, tariffs and adverse regulatory changes.”
The quarterly results come weeks after Volvo buried its January sales results inside a rolling three-month total.
By bundling November, December, and January into a combined 177,830-vehicle figure, the company presented investors with a 7% year-over-year decline.
The figures were significantly less alarming than the roughly 16.3% fall that the derived January standalone figure of 42,537 vehicles produced — Volvo‘s weakest monthly sales figure in nearly four years.
In February, sales from the Swedish-based automaker dropped further to 39,379 vehicles.
Last month, however, sales recovered and Volvo posted its second-best monthly sales results in the past 15 months — trailing only December.
European Lead
Sales in Europe and Rest of World (RoW) totalled 95,335 vehicles, down 2% year over year.
Fully electric car deliveries in the region rose 21%, despite the overall electrified model sales drop of 2%.
Electrified models accounted for 57% of all cars sold in the region.
Volvo‘s Chief Commercial Officer Erik Severinson said March marked the company’s sixth consecutive month of growth in fully electric car deliveries, “even without the EX60.”
“We are now gearing up for the start of production of the EX60 following the overwhelming customer response,” he added.
American Markets
Sales in the American continent, on the other hand, fell 28% to 29,651 vehicles.
Deliveries of electrified models dropped 30%, which the company attributed to weak consumer sentiment and the phaseout of incentives for fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
“Deliveries in the US, however, remain impacted by weak customer sentiment and the phaseout of incentives impacting electrified products,” Severinson said.
The quarter followed a series of setbacks in the region.
Last month, Volvo informed US dealers it would remove the EX30 and EX30 Cross Country from its American lineup after the 2026 model year.
A spokesperson for the company said the decision was “a direct response to shifting market conditions and financial factors.”
All existing orders will be fulfilled, but production for the US is expected to wind down after the summer.
The model will remain available in Canada, Mexico, and other markets.
Despite having manufacturing facilities in North America, Volvo has not integrated production of the small SUV on the continent.
Its South Carolina plant produces the fully electric EX90 — for which Canadian imports were also cut last year amid the trade scenario.
Last year, the company cut around 15% of its commercial workforce in the US as it dealt with the impact of tariffs and weaker-than-expected demand.
China
Despite being backed by the Chinese giant Geely Holding Group and manufacturing in China, Volvo sales in the country dropped 17% to 28,330 vehicles.
The company attributed the decline to the competitive market, seasonal effects, and the prolonged Chinese New Year Holiday period — which disrupts sales and production.
Sales of electrified models, however, more than doubled to 7,604 units — mostly driven by a 146% jump in plug-in hybrid deliveries.
In February, the company’s latest-generation EX90 appeared on China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) catalogue, as the automaker prepared to launch the model there.
The ES90 sedan was also filed with MIIT the same month.
Volvo EX60
Much of Volvo‘s forward strategy rests on the EX60, which was unveiled globally on January 21.
Built on the new SPA3 platform, the model offers up to 810 km of range (WLTP) and features 800-volt architecture with 10-to-80% charging in about 18 minutes.
It is the first Volvo model on the SPA3, which the company describes as “100% electric and 100% Volvo Cars” — as it departs from the platform shared with parent company Geely.
CEO Håkan Samuelsson — who led Volvo between 2012 and 2022 and returned in April 2025 after Jim Rowan’s departure — said in February that the aim was to produce more than 40,000 EX60 units this year, with a ramp-up in 2027.
The model’s pricing, near that of its hybrid equivalent — the XC60, which is Volvo‘s best-selling vehicle ever — is expected to help improve margins.
Volvo is in discussions with local trade unions to keep its Torslanda plant open for an additional week during the summer to meet demand — a first in the company’s history, according to Automotive World.
In January, Samuelsson told Automotive News Europe that he expects Volvo, alongside BMW and Mercedes-Benz, to lead Europe “towards electrification” through mid-size SUVs.
Financial Results
The first-quarter report caps a difficult stretch for the automaker. In February, Volvo reported a 68% drop in fourth-quarter operating profit.
Shares fell more than 22% that day — the worst single-day decline on record for the brand, according to Reuters.
For the full year 2025, Volvo‘s global sales dropped 7% to 710,042 vehicles from a record 763,389 the year before.
Fully electric deliveries also fell 13% to 151,830 units.
Last year, Volvo cut 3,000 jobs — about 15% of its global workforce — as part of a SEK 18 billion ($1.89 billion) cost and cash action plan, and suspended financial guidance for 2025 and 2026.
Geely x Volvo Production
On Tuesday, Geely‘s founder and President Li Shufu said that the group will build more vehicles in Europe using existing plants owned by Volvo Cars.
Volvo‘s CEO added that the company has enough spare capacity at its European plants to share with Geely Auto and other brands under its portfolio.
The automaker has manufacturing facilities in Sweden, Belgium, and Slovakia.
Geely-backed Polestar also revealed on Tuesday that it would consolidate all global production of the Polestar 3 electric SUV at Volvo Cars‘ plant in South Carolina, ending manufacturing of the model in China.
Earlier this week, Volvo announced that it would become the exclusive European importer for Lynk & Co, taking over the brand’s distribution, marketing, and sales operations on the continent.
These measures are part of what Geely’s President calls a need “to strengthen all of the relationships between the sister companies” — including Volvo, Polestar, Zeekr, among others.
