Quite unsurprisingly, Volvo Cars has seen a very positive first half performance with a record 340,826 sales, 7.3 per cent up compared to the same period last year (with 317,639 units). China, America, and Europe all saw steady growth, more so in China with its highest ever first half and June sales volumes and grew faster than its competitors. To be precise, 67,741 units were sold in China (up 10.2 per cent) in the first six months of 2019 mostly attributed to the locally assembled XC60 and S90 models.

The performance is primarily due to the popularity of Volvo’s SUVs, especially the XC60 followed by the XC40 and XC90. The sedans namely the V60 estate, V60 Cross Country and the S60 all saw increased demand as well. Also, the company is delivering on mild hybrid variants.

Globally, the XC60 continued to be the top selling model in the first half of the year with sales reaching 97,203 cars (2018: 19,534 units), followed by the XC40, with total sales of 61,864 cars (2018: 23,741 units) and the XC90 with sales of 47,818 cars (2018: 47,658 units).