Volvo Car Malaysia (VCM) has managed the seemingly impossible task of selling more cars in a pandemic-ravaged 2020 than it did the year before. The Swedish manufacturer closed the year with 1,950 cars sold, marking an improvement of 3.6 percent over 2019's tally of 1,883 units. This is the highest number of cars the company has ever sold in a calendar year in Malaysia since its inception. 

The only other manufacturer that has officially reported a year-on-year improvement in 2020 sales to date is Malaysian carmaker Proton, to which Volvo is now distantly related through parent company Geely. It's quite an impressive achievement considering VCM's sales were down by 56.1 percent in the first half of the year, fresh off the first waves of Covid-19 and the ensuing Movement Control Order (MCO). 

VCM managing director Nalin Jain credits the recovery to "the collective efforts of our dealers and staff, as well as the opportune timing of the government's sales tax holiday", which has since been extended to June 2021. If you're eyeing a new Volvo with the desire of maximising this tax break while it lasts, you might want to watch our recent videos featuring the T8 variants of the S60 and S90 below before heading to the showroom (once it's safe to do so).