Despite Covid spike: Volvo Cars CEO says demand holding up

Volvo notched a sixth straight annual sales record in 2019, of more than 700,000 cars


Reuters September 25, 2020
PHOTO: REUTERS

STOCKHOLM:

Swedish carmaker Volvo Cars expects to hit its forecast of roughly flat sales year-on-year in the second half of 2020 even as a recent a surge in cases across Europe makes the outlook more uncertain, Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson told Reuters.

Volvo, bought by China’s Geely Holding in 2010, has repositioned itself during Samuelsson’s tenure as a premium carmaker with a range of popular sports utility vehicles (SUVs), taking on far larger rivals such as BMW and Mercedes. It notched a sixth straight annual sales record in 2019, of more than 700,000 cars, and while hit by the pandemic earlier this year has seen a sharp rebound in recent months, helped by strength in China and the United States.

“We have a second wave in Europe which is making the outlook a bit more uncertain, but July and August started very well, and for September we are roughly on the same level as last year,” Samuelsson said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25th, 2020.

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