The Swedish car manufacturer Volvo sold more cars last year than ever before. The company, which is part of the Chinese Geely Group, announced on Tuesday that a total of 763,389 vehicles were delivered to customers. This is an increase of 8 percent compared to the previous year.
More electric cars and hybrid vehicles
The increase was particularly large for electric cars. In 2024, Volvo said it sold 175,194 fully electric vehicles, an increase of 54 percent. Their share was 23 percent of all Volvos sold. According to its own information, the car company also sold 177,593 hybrid vehicles in 2024.
While Volvo recorded a 25 percent increase in sales in Europe, sales fell China by 8 percent and in the USA down by 3 percent.
In September, Volvo weakened its goal of only producing fully electric cars by 2030. Instead, the proportion of electric cars should be “90 to 100 percent” by then. Volvo shares rose 1.45 percent in early trading on the Stockholm Stock Exchange on Tuesday after the sales record was announced.
Meanwhile, demand for electric cars is declining the German market slipping into the red. Around 2.8 million new cars were registered in 2024, 1 percent less than in the previous year, as the Federal Motor Transport Authority announced on Monday. For electric cars alone, the decline was 27.4 percent.
Hybrids, on the other hand, were in demand: every third new vehicle now has one Germany via such a drive in which the gasoline engine is combined with an electric motor. Gasoline cars were also sold more frequently than a year ago.