Volvo announces a 25% drop in sales for April

Volvo Car Group said this week that its sales for April totaled 47,150, down 24.8% year-over-year. Overall, sales dropped 47.8% in China, U.S. sales fell by 9.2%, and European sales dropped 23.3%. 

Last week, the Sweden-based automaker said that it outdid initial profit forecasts for the quarter. Still, it noted that parts shortages and increasing prices of raw materials and logistics are continuing to hinder its production. 

This week’s statement echoed that statement, noting, “In April, Covid-19 lockdowns in eastern China impacted retail deliveries in China and added more challenges to already weakened global supply chains, resulting in additional loss of production.” 

Despite the widespread drop in sales, Volvo said that demand is still high and added that 10% of sales for the month were fully-electric vehicles. Volvo’s electric Recharge model reportedly performed well, growing to 38.4% of all sales. In the U.S., Recharge models reportedly made up 44.1% of all 10,022 sales. 

Overall, the brand’s XC60 SUV was the top seller across its lineup.

Volvo is still hoping for 50% of all global sales to be fully-electric vehicles by 2025. The automaker’s Chief Executive Officer, Jim Rowan, told reporters that despite supply chain setbacks, Volvo is “very much on track” to release its electric SUV later this year, which will be the “successor” to the XC90 SUV. 

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