Volvo turns in H1 report, reveals plans for electrification

Despite the challenges of the ongoing global health crisis, Volvo Cars reported its best half-year results in terms of sales and operating profit based on a report revealed by the Swedish carmaker.

According to Volvo Cars, they achieved total revenue of 141 billion Swedish krona (SEK) based on the company’s financial reports. “Strong demand and positive mix effects” have driven the brand’s strong sales across all regions.

For the first half of 2021, Volvo Cars sold 166,822 vehicles in Europe, 95,252 in China, 63,754 in the States, with 54,929 more on other markets. Sales for the first six months of 2021 totaled 380,757; last year's sales for the same period was 269,962.

Volvo Cars saw sales rebound by 41 percent over 2020, and 12 percent compared to 2019. The 12-month rolling sales volume is approximately 775,000 cars, just shy of the 800,000-target set 10 years ago.

“The one word that summarizes Volvo Car’s performance over the last decade is "transformation." This theme also characterizes the first half of 2021. The company continued to grow strongly despite the industry-wide semiconductor shortage, but more importantly, we demonstrated that we are a leader in the ongoing transformation in the automotive industry,” said Volvo Cars CEO Håkan Samuelsson.

“Volvo is not alone in its desire to offer electric cars to customers in new ways. Our ambition is therefore not merely to transform, but that Volvo Cars should be the fastest transforming company in the sector. The company will be fully electric by 2030,” he adds.

Volvo Cars’ electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) also saw significant growth, now making up 25 percent of the brand’s global sales volume. Among traditional carmakers, says Volvo, this is the highest electrification share as a proportion of total sales.

The automaker also reveals that it plans to join forces with Northvolt — a Swedish battery developer and manufacturer, specializing in lithium-ion technology for electric vehicles — to secure sustainable batteries for the company’s all-electric strategy.

Its internal combustion engine operations, on the other hand, will be carved out into a new unit — Aurobay. Here, Volvo Cars will work with Geely Holdings to secure a supply of competitive combustion engines for its hybrid powertrains until the company realizes its fully electric plan.

Volvo Cars also entered partnerships with other companies to further its electrification scheme.

“Zenseact, our autonomous drive software company, broadened its investor base. ECARX invested and is now holding a 15 percent ownership. Polestar, our strategic affiliate, conducted a successful private placement earlier this year and we have topped up our investment as our clear ambition is to remain as the main shareholder,” explained Samuelsson.

In May, the Board announced that it is evaluating a possible initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq Stockholm, to which Volvo’s boss commented “ an IPO would broaden our ownership base and improve access to international capital markets to help secure our transformation. The evaluation process continues.”

Photos from Volvo

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