- Volvo is having a tough yr by way of EV gross sales within the U.S.
- The Swedish automaker bought fewer than 500 EVs final month right here.
- Yr-to-date, EV gross sales went down 63% in comparison with 2023.
Volvo is struggling to promote all-electric automobiles in the US. Whereas its EV recreation has seen strong features in Europe, China and all over the place else, the story is totally totally different stateside. As in, it’s very dangerous. And an absence of recent fashions which are powering Volvo’s electrical success elsewhere is responsible.
In November, Volvo bought simply 493 absolutely electrical automobiles within the U.S. No typos, you learn that accurately. To make issues worse, that is down 41% in comparison with final November when 840 EVs have been bought stateside, however the remaining blow comes when evaluating year-to-date gross sales.
Within the first 11 months of 2024, Volvo bought 4,819 EVs, down a whopping 63% from final yr’s 12,923 items. To place issues in perspective, Honda has bought 25,000 Prologue EVs because the starting of the yr, and that automotive isn’t even Honda’s personal creation—as a substitute, it’s based mostly on Normal Motors’ Ultium platform and is assembled alongside different GM EVs in Mexico.
Again in October, Volvo stated that “the automotive market within the firm’s most important areas of Europe, China and the U.S. is more and more underneath stress which impacts demand.” However Normal Motors, Honda, Hyundai and Kia are doing fairly effectively, so certainly there have to be different components at play right here.
One purpose I can consider is the present EV portfolio supplied to American clients. The EX40 and EC40 (previously referred to as the XC40 Recharge and C40 Rechage) are the one EVs on sale proper now within the U.S., and so they’re each $50,000+ automobiles. We’re usually followers of them right here at InsideEVs, however by way of specs they’re relatively dated in comparison with extra fashionable examples.
The actual drawback within the U.S. is the shortage of the entry-level EX30. That automotive ought to’ve been on sale earlier this yr however as a result of it is made in China, it bought spiked by Biden administration tariffs—leaving Volvo with out this large electrical development driver it has in Europe and different areas.
After Volvo labored out pricing, the EX30 is lastly on its solution to the U.S., with deliveries set to start earlier than the yr ends. In Europe, it proved to be successful, however as a result of the primary model to ship to the U.S. would be the mid-tier, dual-motor, its beginning value is $46,195 (together with vacation spot).
The Volvo EX30 will arrive at U.S. dealerships by the yr’s finish.
That’s a reasonably penny for a automotive that’s about the identical measurement as a Hyundai Kona, so it is going to be attention-grabbing to see if the subcompact crossover will flip the tide for Volvo stateside. Granted, the Kona does not have 422 horsepower, however in such a small automotive, that feels like overkill.
After which there’s the far more luxurious EX90 SUV. Initially positioned as an electrical successor the XC90 that helped reset Volvo for the fashionable period (which is now returning as a hybrid), American provides of the EX90 are off to a sluggish begin. A search of Automobiles.com reveals fewer than 300 are on the market nationwide as of this writing and our early checks indicated it does not really feel fairly “completed” by way of software program and options, so Volvo Automobiles USA will not have the ability to rely on that as a growth-driver for some time.
Additionally, it’s not all dangerous information for Volvo. In Europe, gross sales of its all-electric lineup went up 50% in November and 86% year-on-year. Total, together with combustion autos, international gross sales went up 5% final month and year-to-date, the Swedish automaker bought 9% extra automobiles than in 2023.
Globally, EV gross sales are additionally doing effectively, with a 40% improve in November and a 59% improve year-over-year–it’s simply the US the place the model is struggling on the EV entrance.
