Volvo Car UK has achieved its best ever first-quarter sales result, selling 16,204 cars in the first three months of the year. This represents an exceptional 39% increase on the Q1 figures in 2018. The historic performance confirms Volvo as the country’s fastest-growing premium brand, with a 2.31% share of the market, itself a 35% increase on the same period last year.
The results are all the more notable for being achieved in a relatively flat market: while Volvo excelled, overall UK new car sales for the period fell by 2% year-on-year. The performance also sustains the momentum generated in 2018, which resulted in Volvo delivering its best year-end figures in 28 years.
Volvo’s fantastic UK performance contributed to a successful first quarter for Volvo globally, where 161,320 cars were sold, an increase of 9% compared with the same period last year.
A comprehensively renewed product line-up is the touchstone for success, with Volvo’s new award-winning SUVs, estate cars and saloons commanding huge public interest. Cool Scandinavian styling, superb equipment specifications, a great choice of efficient powertrains and exceptional safety features combine to make the current line-up a compelling proposition across the board.
In the UK, the top performer during the first quarter of the year was the XC40 compact SUV. A multiple award-winner, it stands as a class-leading example of a car that is desirable, technologically advanced and versatile, designed to meet all the key requirements of today’s motorists, from efficient performance to comfort and seamless on-board connectivity. Taking second place in the results is the V40, signalling Volvo’s enduring reputation as a master of premium hatchback design and engineering. The XC60 mid-size SUV was third in the UK sales chart for the quarter, continuing its popularity with buyers who want a car that is stylish, sophisticated, practical and safe.
The UK public’s enthusiasm for Volvo was not confined to new cars. First-quarter sales of Volvo Selekt Approved Used Cars rose by 5% on last year’s Q1 performance, to 8,390 units.
Jon Wakefield, Volvo Car UK Managing Director, said: “This is a fantastic start to the year for us, further demonstrating how our global strategy is producing vehicles that have wide-ranging appeal to customers. In a relatively short time, we renewed our product range with models that have instantly become the benchmarks against which the competition is being judged, giving us a strong position in a very competitive market. The challenge now is to sustain our performance, something that further new models and derivatives will help us achieve in the months ahead.”
SOURCE: Volvo Cars
