VOLVO CAR GROUP REPORTS PROFIT FOR H1 2015

Three quarters of the orders for Volvo’s new XC90 are for the top of the range Inscription model, Volvo Cars has announced.

Volvo Cars also said it has received nearly 57,000 orders for the new XC90, outstripping forecast sales for this year of 50,000. The company is running three shifts at its plant in Torslanda, Sweden, to meet demand.

“With 76 per cent of customers choosing the top end Inscription model, it is fair to say that we have now entrenched our position as a premium car maker,” said Alain Visser, Senior Vice President for Marketing Sales and Customer Service.

The new XC90 marks the beginning of a new chapter in Volvo’s history, capturing its future design direction, incorporating its own range of new technologies and utilising its new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) technology.

The latest update on sales for the XC90 came as Volvo reported its financial results for the first half of 2015.

The company reported an operating profit of SEK1,660m for the first half of 2015, compared to SEK968m* for the same period in 2014. Revenue for the first half was SEK75,215m, up from SEK66,982m* in the first half of 2014.

Retail sales during the first six months of 2015 were 232,284 cars, up slightly compared to 229,013 in the same period last year, driven primarily by strong demand in Europe. Sales in China were flat during the period while sales in the United States stabilised..

“It has been a good first half of the year, with an improved financial performance,” said Håkan Samuelsson, President and Chief Executive. “We have been implementing a transformation plan since 2010 and this financial result demonstrates that we continue to be on the right track.”

Volvo is investing in a global transformation as part of its long term strategic ambition to enhance its position as a global premium car maker. Driven by the complete renewal of its product range, Volvo is aiming to almost double sales to around 800,000 cars a year in the medium term.

In the first six months of 2015, Volvo Cars took several important steps towards achieving these goals.

In the first half, Volvo also announced it will build a new manufacturing facility in South Carolina. Construction on the USD500m plant near Charleston will start this fall and the new facility will have initial production of around 100,000 cars per year and be completed by 2018.

* The comparative figures for 2014 are restated, as Volvo Cars gained control over the Chinese industrial entities and consolidated them into Volvo Car Group as of January 1, 2015. As the incorporation of these entities is a common control transaction, Volvo Car Group has elected to apply predecessor accounting, meaning that the comparative information is presented as if the incorporated entities had always been controlled by Volvo Car Group. More information can be found in the Group’s Interim Report First Half Year 2015.

Volvo Car Group, the premium car maker, has reported an operating profit of SEK1,660m for the first half of 2015, compared to SEK968m* for the same period in 2014. Revenue for the first half was SEK75,215m, up from SEK66,982m* in the first half of 2014. The full Interim Report First Half Year 2015 can be downloaded here.

Retail sales during the first six months of 2015 were 232,284 cars, up slightly compared to 229,013 in the same period last year, driven primarily by strong demand in Europe. Sales in China were flat while sales in the United States stabilized during the period.

“It has been a good first half of the year, with an improved financial performance,” said Håkan Samuelsson, President and Chief Executive. “We have been implementing a transformation plan since 2010 and this financial result demonstrates that we continue to be on the right track. For the full year, we expect a substantial increase in profits.”

Volvo is investing in a global transformation as part of its long term strategic ambition to enhance its position as a global premium car maker. Driven by the complete renewal of its product range, Volvo is aiming to almost double sales to around 800,000 cars a year in the medium term.

In the first six months of 2015, Volvo Cars took several important steps towards achieving these goals.

The company started production of the new Volvo XC90, the first of its new generation of cars on its SPA platform. So far, the company has received close to 57,000 orders and started delivering the car to customers in the spring. In May, a third shift was introduced at the Torslanda plant in Sweden, creating nearly 1,500 new manufacturing jobs.

In the first half, Volvo also announced it will build a new manufacturing facility in South Carolina. Construction on the USD500m plant near Charleston will start this fall and the new facility will have initial production of around 100,000 cars per year and be completed by 2018.

Full results for the first half of 2015 will be revealed today at 10:00 CET during a press conference at the Volvo Showroom in Kungsträdgården, Stockholm. The press conference can be followed via the web here. More information on Volvo Car Group’s results can be found in the Group’s Interim Report First Half Year 2015, which will be available for download on the Volvo Car Group Global Newsroom (media.volvocars.com) as of 10:00 CET.

* The comparative figures for 2014 are restated, as Volvo Cars gained control over the Chinese industrial entities and consolidated them into Volvo Car Group as of January 1, 2015. As the incorporation of these entities is a common control transaction, Volvo Car Group has elected to apply predecessor accounting, meaning that the comparative information is presented as if the incorporated entities had always been controlled by Volvo Car Group. More information can be found in the Group’s Interim Report First Half Year 2015.