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Volvo cars reports record sales of 503,127 in 2015

Volvo Cars, the premium car maker, sold 503,127 cars in 2015, the first time it has sold more than half a million cars in its 89-year history.

The new sales record underscores the strength and sustainability of Volvo's ongoing operational and financial transformation. It is also an endorsement of the company's new product strategy, with global sales boosted in the later stages of 2015 by the new XC90 SUV.

Volvo reported strong sales from all three core global regions. Sales in Europe rose 10.6 per cent for the year to 269,249, representing 53.5 per cent of total global volume. Volvo's revival in the US gained momentum, with sales up 24.3 per cent in 2015. China was flat amid a challenging sales environment, but looked stronger at the end of the year, with sales up 11.4 per cent in the fourth quarter.

These upward sales trends are expected to continue in 2016.

The second of Volvo's all-new model range - the S90 premium saloon - is being revealed to the public at this year's North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit and will go on sale in the US in the Spring. In four years, Volvo will have renewed its entire model range.

"I am delighted to report that 2015 was a year of record sales," said Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo Cars. "Now with a successful 2015 behind us, Volvo is about to enter the second phase of its global transformation. Once completed, Volvo will have ceased being a minor automotive player and taken its position as a truly global premium car company. More records will tumble in coming years."

The second phase of Volvo's transformation does not lack ambition.

In coming years, Volvo will continue to reposition its brand to compete with its global premium rivals. It will continue to revive its operations in the US and develop its global manufacturing footprint. In the medium term, it will continue to grow in China, double its market share in Europe and increase its sales globally to 800,000 cars. It will introduce an entirely new model range, embed its new engine technologies and maintain its position as the leader in car safety and autonomous drive technologies.

In the future, Volvo's larger 90 series and 60 series cars will be built on its Scalable Product Architecture (SPA). Volvo will also implement a global small-car strategy, introducing the quality and technical sophistication that is available on SPA to smaller cars on its Compact Modular Architecture (CMA).

Volvo will in future entrench its position as a leading global maker of hybrids, with a series of four- and three-cylinder hybrid engines, offering world-beating combinations of power and emissions.

It will also develop an all-electric car for the first time. Volvo expects at least 10 per cent of its annual sales to be electrified vehicles in the medium term.

Volvo Cars has made significant progress since being acquired by Zhejiang Geely Holdings in 2010, not least in expanding its manufacturing footprint. The announcement this year of its new factory in South Carolina in the US means Volvo now has an industrial presence in all three key global regions - Asia, Europe and the US.