Car sales slide at Volvo on weaker EV demand

Sales at Volvo Car Group fell sharply in June, the automaker said on Wednesday, as weaker demand for electric vehicles weighed heavily on the Swedish brand.

A total of 62,858 cars were sold worldwide in June, down 12% year-on-year. Sales fell in all regions, including a 14% slide in Europe, its biggest market, and a 7% decline in the US.

In China, sales eased 3% to 8,627. Volvo Cars, which is listed in Stockholm, is majority owned by China’s Geely.

Sales of electrified models, which includes fully electric and plug-in hybrids, slid 19%. EVs accounted for 44% of all Volvo cars sold in June.

The biggest falls in EV sales were seen in China and Europe, where they were down 26% and 21% respectively.

It is the fourth consecutive month of falling sales volumes at Volvo Cars. In the year to date, the group has now sold 353,780 globally, down 9% on 2024.

In April, Volvo Cars withdrew earnings forecasts for the next two years in response to US president Donald Trump’s sweeping and often erratic global tariff regime.

Shortly afterwards it announced plans to cut around 3,000 jobs as it battles higher costs and falling demand for EVs alongside the heightened uncertainty in global trade.

Volvo Cars has its head office in Gothenburg, but its production plants are based in Sweden, Belgium, the US and China, where it has three sites. It also has a design centre in Shanghai.

Volvo Cars is entirely separate to fellow Stockholm-listed firm Volvo Group, which makes Volvo-branded trucks.