Volvo CEO says demand holding up despite COVID spike

Swedish carmaker Volvo Cars expects to hit its forecast of roughly flat sales year-on-year in the second half of 2020 even as a recent a surge in cases across Europe makes the outlook more uncertain, Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson said.

Volvo notched a sixth straight annual sales record in 2019, of more than 700,000 cars, and while hit by the pandemic earlier this year has seen a sharp rebound in recent months, helped by strength in China and the United States.

“We have a second wave in Europe which is making the outlook a bit more uncertain, but July and August started very well, and for September we are roughly on the same level as last year,” Samuelsson explained.

Volvo, which aims for half the cars it sells to be fully electric by 2025 and plans to separate its combustion engine business into a standalone unit, will start production of its first fully electric car, the XC40 Recharge P8, this month.

Via Reuters