Swedish luxury automaker Volvo might be having a difficult time here in the Indian market but talk about the UK market and things look much brighter. The brand, in fact, is celebrating its best sales performance in 20 years.
Thanks to the strong demand for Volvo’s new Drive-E powertrains in the line-up, Volvo has been able to begin 2015 with a healthy order book in place. The brand recorded a 26 per cent year-on-year sales increase in 2014, with the Volvo V40/V40 Cross Country taking top honour with 18,086 sold followed by the XC60 with 9,959 units and the V60 with 4,188 units. The XC60 was Volvo’ best-selling vehicle globally with 136,993 cars, followed by the V40/V40 Cross Country with 110,528 units.
2014 saw the introduction of, and the groundwork laid, for some important new models for Volvo. The V60 Polestar, although not a volume car, showed the potential performance direction that could be taken. The launch of the highly advanced Drive-E powertrains also arrived in the range. While 2014 saw the end of production of the first generation XC90, 2015 will see the launch of the all-new XC90, the first car to use Volvo’s brand new SPA chassis.