Volvo Cars said on Thursday its global sales fell 10% year over year to 70,737 vehicles in March.
The carmaker said earlier this week that its CEO Jim Rowan stepped down after nearly three years in the role with the former CEO Håkan Samuelsson taking the role over for 2 years.
Sales in Europe, Volvo’s main market, dropped 9% to just above 36,000 units driven by a 39% decline in sales of battery electric vehicles (BEV) — from 14,967 a year ago to 9,079 units last month.
Last year, the company abandoned its target of selling only BEVs by the end of the decade. The automaker had been one of the first automakers to promise a fully electric portfolio by 2030.
In the first three months of the year, Volvo has sold 172,219 vehicles across all powertrains, 6% less when compared to the first quarter of 2024.
In the US, where 25% tariffs started to be imposed this Thursday on all imported vehicles but also parts, sales fell 8% in March.
Regarding the sales in China, the world’s biggest new energy vehicle (NEV) market, Volvo sales plunged 22% with the company selling only 175 BEVs.
Sales of PHEV models increased to 1,068 from 670 units registered a year ago.
In 2024, the company sold 763,389 vehicles, an increase of 8% compared to the previous year. The growth was mainly fueled by stronger demand in Europe, where sales rose by 25% to 369,685 units, accounting for nearly half of the company’s total sales.
