Volvo Cars sets new sales record in 2024 thanks to EVs

Total Volvo sales across all drive types rose by 8% in 2024, from 708,716 to 763,389 vehicles, an all-time record. This is primarily due to the positive development (+33%) in electrified vehicles – with BEVs growing more strongly than plug-in hybrids.

By contrast, sales of mild hybrids/combustion engines fell by 7% to 410,602 vehicles. If this trend continues, Volvo Cars could sell more electrified cars than combustion engines in 2025.

Almost half electrified

Volvo Cars sold 175,194 electric cars worldwide in 2024, 54% more than in 2023. 177,593 plug-in hybrids were also sold, an increase of 16%. That means that 23% of all cars sold by Volvo Cars in 2024 were purely electric, compared to 16% in 2023. Just over 23% of all sales were plug-in hybrid.

Accumulated, the sales of ‘electrified’ vehicles accounted for 46% of all Volvos sold worldwide in 2024, according to the company. Under ‘electrified’, Volvo summarises both battery-electric cars and plug-in hybrids. Mild hybrids are counted separately, just like combustion engines.

Regional differences

Market development varied greatly from region to region. In Europe, which is still the largest sales region, Volvo grew by 25% to 369,685 cars, of which 133,070 units were fully electric, an increase of 76%. The share of electric cars in Europe climbed to 36%.

However, if 133,070 of 175,194 electric cars were registered in Europe alone, this also means that there are not many left for the rest of the world. In the USA, for example, electric car sales have fallen by 59% to 5,608 vehicles. Plug-in hybrids, on the other hand, have increased by 69% to almost 37,300 units.

The situation in China is different again: Volvo increased electric car sales by 33%, albeit at a reasonably low absolute number of 4,349 units. PHEV sales in the People’s Republic fell 5% to 11,417 units. Thus, the ‘electrified’ models were only up 3% combined. In China, Volvo’s electric car share is only 2.8%, while in the USA, it is 4.5%.

Volvo Cars Belgium registered 24.221 vehicles in 2024, which represents an all-time high result. With a market share of 5.4% and a growth of 14% compared to 2023, these figures put Volvo in sixth place in the ranking of the best-sold brands in Belgium. 

Best-sellers

Looking at Volvo’s best-selling models, the all-electric model series have not yet fully come into their own: the XC60, which is only available as a plug-in hybrid, was the most popular model series with 230,853 units and was even able to improve on the previous year’s result slightly.

In second place was the XC40/EX40 duo, which had a total sales of 173,890 vehicles (2023: 200,670); Volvo doesn’t differentiate more precisely between the BEV version and the other drive variants.

The flagship SUV XC90 is in third place, with 108,621 vehicles sold (2023: 107,549). It received a comprehensive facelift in 2024. The recent all-electric EX90 and small EX30 model series are not yet in the top three.