Geely-owned Volvo car sales top half a million in record 2015

[STOCKHOLM] Geely-owned carmaker Volvo Car Group said on Friday it sold a record 503,127 cars last year, up 8 per cent from 2014, boosted by demand for its new flagship XC90 SUV model and strong growth in the United States and Europe.

It was the first year in which Volvo, bought by China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co from Ford Motor Co in 2010, reached sales above the half million unit mark.

Volvo, which targets sales of 800,000 cars in the medium term as it seeks to take on German heavyweights such as Daimler's Mercedes-Benz and BMW, said it expected sales trends to continue to improve in 2016. "Now, with a successful 2015 behind us, Volvo is about to enter the second phase of its global transformation," Volvo Car Group Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson said in a statement. "Once completed, Volvo will have ceased being a minor automotive player and taken its position as a truly global premium car company."

Volvo Cars, one of Sweden's biggest firms by sales and number of employees, said its US sales grew 24.3 per cent in 2015 following years of eroding demand.

Its sales in Europe were up 10.6 per cent, while sales in China were flat for the year, tempered by slowing growth in the world's second biggest economy, but up strongly in the fourth quarter with an 11.4 per cent rise.

REUTERS