Volvo China sales jump 50% in October, easing downturns in U.S., Europe
Volvo Car Corp. said Tuesday that October sales in China shot up 50 percent year-on-year to 36,127 units, cushioning lower sales in the United State and Europe.
The Swedish automaker's global vehicle sales rose 4 percent in October despite a 7 percent decline in the U.S. and a 4 percent downturn in Europe. The company, which ran a loss in the first half of the year, said in a statement that China was its single biggest market for the second straight month in October.
''China in particular is performing outstanding and we expect a full year result well above our target," Alain Visser, sales and marketing chief at the carmaker, said in the statement.
Volvo is counting on strong growth in China, the home of its parent Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., to help double global sales to 800,000 units by 2020.
To increase its market share in China, Volvo will start producing vehicles late this year in the northeast city of Daqing, where it has built a joint-venture assembly plant with Geely. Geely holds a 70 percent stake in the new partnership, while Volvo holds 30 percent.
That plant will produce up to 80,000 vehicles units annually. Volvo also builds the stretched Volvo S60 at a Geely plant in the southwest China city of Chengdu.
''China in particular is performing outstanding and we expect a full year result well above our target," Alain Visser, sales and marketing chief at the carmaker, said in the statement.
Volvo is counting on strong growth in China, the home of its parent Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., to help double global sales to 800,000 units by 2020.
To increase its market share in China, Volvo will start producing vehicles late this year in the northeast city of Daqing, where it has built a joint-venture assembly plant with Geely. Geely holds a 70 percent stake in the new partnership, while Volvo holds 30 percent.
That plant will produce up to 80,000 vehicles units annually. Volvo also builds the stretched Volvo S60 at a Geely plant in the southwest China city of Chengdu.
