Volvo Cars reports full-year sales growth in 2021 despite supply constraints

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Despite persistent supply constraints, Volvo Cars reported a 5.6 percent increase in global sales in 2021 on Wednesday.

Last year, the company sold 698,693 vehicles globally. In the United States, 122,173 units were sold, 10.9 percent more than in 2020. The respective figures were 171,676 cars (up 3.0 percent) in China and 293,471 cars (up 1.8 percent) in Europe.

Globally, the XC60 continued to be Volvo's best-selling model, followed by the XC40 and the XC90.

Volvo Cars said that sales of its Recharge line of advanced pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars also increased significantly in 2021, by 63.9 percent year-on-year. Recharge cars made up 27 percent of the company's total sales volume in 2021.

Driven by increasing customer demand in combination with a broadened offer in more markets, the company's online sales increased by 316 percent in 2021 compared with 2020, it added.

The company noted that despite the strong demand for its products, sales in December 2021 declined 18.1 percent compared to the same month in 2020. Persistent component and parts shortages affected production and consequently deliveries to customers, the company explained.

Volvo Cars, acquired by Chinese automaker Geely in 2010, had approximately 40,000 full-time employees globally as of December 2020.

Headquartered in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, Volvo Cars has production facilities in Gothenburg, Ghent (Belgium), South Carolina (U.S.), Chengdu and Daqing (China). - Xinhua