Volvo Cars posts record annual sales but shares still dip

HELSINKI: Volvo Cars sold a record number of vehicles in 2023, it said on Friday, boosted by electric car demand and stabilising supply chains, but its growth rate eased towards the end of the year and the share price slipped in early trade.

The number of cars sold in one year rose by 15% to 708,716 last year, Volvo said, adding that demand for fully electric vehicles (EV) was especially good and had grown by 70% from 2022.

"The all-time-high sales record is a demonstration of Volvo Cars' strong electrified product portfolio in combination with a more stabilised supply chain," the company said in a statement.

Volvo Cars' growth rate in December stood at 4.6% compared to the same month of 2022, with Europe up 4%, China down 6% and the United States up 23%, it added.

Volvo Cars, which is majority-owned by China's Geely, saw its share price fall by 1.4% to 30.49 Swedish crowns today, an all-time low for the company that went public in late 2021.

The stock has been under pressure since November after Geely launched a sale of 100 million shares in the carmaker.

Analysts have questioned Volvo's heavy focus on electric cars, arguing the overall EV market is underperforming and subject to strong competition from Tesla.

Fully electric and hybrid cars in December made up 55% of all cars sold in Europe, the company's biggest market, Volvo Cars said.

The company is due to report its October-December and full-year earnings on Feb 1.