Volvo had its its most successful year ever in 2018, with the Swedish brand selling more than 600,000 vehicles in a calendar year for the first time.
After selling 571,577 units in 2017, Volvo increased its output by 12.4 per cent last year to 642,253 – with Europe, China and the USA all seeing major rises in sales.
European customers ordered 317,838 Volvos in 2018, with China second with 130,593 orders. The US market was close to breaking the 100,000-unit mark at 98,263 sales.
December was also a successful month for the company, as sales were up by 2.8 per cent compared to the same month in 2017.
Volvo puts this uptake down to the replenished range of models, including the introductions of the new XC40, XC60 and S60.
The mid-sized XC60 SUV was the brand’s most popular model in 2018, with 189,459 units sold – with its larger sibling, the XC90, second on the list with 94,182 sales.
The soon-to-be-updated V40 range was third with 77,587 units, while the XC40 compact SUV was sold 75,828 times last year. Rounding out the top five was the S90, which was ordered 57,142 times.
2019 will see the new S60 make its debut on the roads.
