Volvo Cars sales up 31% in May as it recovers from past years

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Sweden-based Volvo Cars on Monday posted a 31% rise in sales in May compared with a year earlier, selling 60,398 cars.

The 31% rise comes after a strained 2022, when the company, like other automakers, felt the effects of persistent COVID-lockdowns in China, chip shortages and other supply constraints that hampered production.

As Volvo, majority-owned by China’s Geely, has begun recovering from 2022’s setbacks, sales figures have consistently been up for the past few months.

Still, automakers’ worries are not yet over as high costs linger. That forced the company recently to commence a cost-slashing effort that has seen 1,300 jobs being cut.

It also announced in May that production of its fully electric SUV was delayed until 2024.

In the company’s biggest market, Europe, sales rose 40%, while sales were up 49% in China and 14% in the United States, Volvo Cars said in a statement.