Volvo is committed to its electric-only future and isn’t worried by recent weakening of demand for electric cars, boss Jim Rowan has said.
The Swedish manufacturer intends for its EV sales mix to hit 50% by 2025 and 100% by 2030.
It sold 113,419 EVs last year, a 17% rise on 2022 and 16% of its total global sales.
Those sales came from two models, the Volvo XC40 Recharge and Volvo C40 Recharge, so the firm anticipates rapidly growing its EV sales with the new entry-level Volvo EX30 and flagship Volvo EX90 SUVs this year.
Rowan also said those new EVs will match or better Volvo’s combustion cars in terms of gross profit margins.
There have been signs that demand for EVs has softened as firms look to expand sales from early adopters to the mass market, with those buyers put off in part by higher prices, while manufacturers are concerned about lower profit margins.
“The reason there’s so much negative around the slowdown of EVs is that there are two different segments: the premium segment and the mass market,” Rowan said. “The mass market has been affected by some companies not getting to price parity with ICE, but we see the premium EV segment growing and we’re taking market share in that. So we’re still bullish about the premium EV market going forward.”
Rowan said that “it’s important for our sustainable future that we go fully electric, but it has to be done with sustainable margins”.
He added: “It's reassuring to see amid all talk about weakening or softening BEV demand and lousy BEV margins for many players that during last year we grew our BEV sales and increased our gross margins.”
Volvo has continued to push further into the premium segment and in future will shift its financial focus from sales units to revenue.
Rowan said the brand's premium push was vital to ensuring high demand for its EVs.
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