Volvo Australia’s surprising electric-car sales surge

A larger percentage of Volvo buyers in Australia chose electric over petrol power than Volvo buyers overseas last year.

The milestone comes as Volvo Australia counts down three more years before it flicks the switch to electric power and turns its back on petrol cars forever.

A record 13.8 per cent (1474) of Volvo cars sold in Australia were electric – in a year that saw the Chinese-owned Swedish car maker eclipse 10,000 vehicles sold in a calendar year for the first time (10,715 sales).

The result places Australia ahead of the rest of the Volvo world – as electric cars accounted for 10.9 per cent of the 615,121 Volvo vehicles reported as sold globally in 2022.

The year prior, electric cars represented 2.3 per cent of the Volvo sales mix in Australia – compared to 3.7 per cent globally.

However, while Australia ranks well in Volvo's global comparison, we are still behind Europe, where 18.5 per cent of Volvo sales are electric. In the US, 7.2 per cent of Volvo sales are electric; in China the mix was just 1.8 per cent.

In December 2022, electric cars accounted for the majority of Volvo sales in Australia, with the 327 electric XC40 and 209 C40 vehicles (536 cars total) combining for 54.7 per cent of the 980 vehicles sold in total – after a sudden influx of deliveries following a large shipment.

When plug-in hybrids are included, 64 per cent of Volvo cars sold in December 2022 were hybrid or electric – versus 23.1 per cent across the calendar year. These compare to 43.8 and 33.4 per cent globally, respectively.

A Volvo Australia spokesperson told Drive the company expects hybrid and electric car sales to continue to grow – pending any production or shipping delays.

Volvo Australia says its order bank for electric cars – the XC40 Recharge Pure Electric small SUV, and its C40 Recharge 'coupe-styled' twin – are in the "high numbers of thousand".

The record electric-car sales is a step towards Volvo Australia's plan to end sales of petrol-powered cars – and go electric-only – from 2026, four years ahead of Volvo's global target.

The company estimates 80 per cent of Volvo Australia sales will be electric in 2025, and from 2026 it wants to sell 20,000 electric vehicles per year – doubling its sales in four years.

Volvo Car Australia boss Stephen Connor told a media conference in October 2022: "We’ve seen an opportunity in our marketplace today and our consumers are ready for this.

"Tesla will sell 20,000 cars this year and the Australian consumer is looking for change. Consumers aren’t just mum and dad anymore, it’s the kids telling their parents what they want them to buy."

Volvo's decision to fast-track its electric-car rollout puts it on a collision course with sister brand Polestar, which launched in Australia last year, and exclusively sells electric vehicles – which look similar to Volvo cars, and claim similar performance specifications.

On the 2022 electric-car sales leaderboard, Volvo placed fifth – behind Polestar, Hyundai, Chinese newcomer BYD, and market leader Tesla. The Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric was the seventh-best selling electric vehicle overall (983 cars).

Meanwhile, the Volvo XC60 Recharge PHEV was Australia's best-selling plug-in hybrid (PHEV) in 2022 – and the top-selling luxury PHEV.