- Volvo’s electrified models, which include fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, accounted for 46% of all sales worldwide.
- The XC60 was its best-selling car of the year. The EX60, it’s fully electric alternative, is expected to go on sale next year.
- Its U.S. EV sales dropped sharply due to the EX30’s delays, but PHEV sales increased by nearly 70%.
Volvo announced last year that it had delayed its goal to go fully electric by the end of the decade. The way things are going, it may well have stuck to the original plan.
The automaker sold a record number of vehicles globally last year, boosted by its fully electric and extensive plug-in-hybrid line-up. Its total vehicle sales reached 763,389 units, with electrified models eating into its gas car sales. Volvo delivered 175,194 fully electric models in 2024, a growth of 54% compared to the year before. Plug-in hybrid sales increased 16%, reaching 177,593 units.
Photo by: Volvo
Volvo hasn’t released the individual sales figures of its cars, but the EX30 likely helped drive this growth. The affordable electric hatchback, finally on sale in the U.S. after several months of delays, has been a sales hit in Europe since last year.
Fully electric models accounted for 23% of Volvo’s sales last year, up from 16% the year before. EVs and PHEVs together accounted for 46% of its global sales in the year ending December, a new record for the brand. (In Europe, EVs and PHEVs accounted for 65% of all car sales.)
PHEVs Shine In The U.S., EV Sales Decline
The automaker’s U.S. sales don’t quite reflect its global success. Volvo sold 125,243 cars in the U.S. last year, down 3%.
Plug-in hybrid sales increased by nearly 70%, but pure EVs dropped 59% to just 5,608 units. It’s safe to say that the EX30’s delay caused this drop, in addition to growing competition. There’s an influx of new and reasonably-priced models from General Motors, Hyundai Motor Group and Honda.
On the other hand, nearly every Volvo gas model has a plug-in-hybrid alternative. Soon, they will all have EV alternatives, too.
The EX30 is finally on sale in the U.S., starting at $45,000 before destination. It’s still made in China at Geely Group’s Zhangjiakou plant, so the steep price results from the 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs. That’s a steep climb from the initially promised $35,000 price tag. Now, we’ll see if it finds more buyers this year. Volvo EVs also have Tesla Supercharger access with an adapter, so that should help, at least in theory.
The automaker is responding to market trends with more EVs and PHEVs in the pipeline. The XC60 was Volvo’s best-selling model last year. Now, its electric alternative, the EX60, is in the works. That’s a ground-up software-defined EV riding on the next-generation SPA3 platform, powered by the latest Nvidia chips and more modern batteries. It’s expected to launch next year and is part of five new EVs the automaker plans to launch by the end of the decade.
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