Volvo’s transition towards becoming an all-electric car brand has slowed, according to its Australian boss, but will boom when its EX60 mid-sized SUV arrives next year.
Electric Cars
Volvo says a delayed arrival of the mid-size EX60 – and limited stock of the EX90 seven-seater – are behind a decline in its electric-vehicle sales tally for 2025, which it expects to boom next year.
About 43 per cent of Volvo sales in Australia were electric vehicles in 2024, up from 12 per cent in 2023 – or approximately 3830 and 1330 sales respectively.
But its 2025 share is expected to sit at about 40 per cent, according to Volvo Car Australia managing director Stephen Connor.
It is a smaller share of what is expected to be a lower sales total, as Volvo sales are down 21 per cent year-to-date at the end of September, after a 20 per cent slump at the end of 2024.
Three years ago, the Swedish brand announced plans to only sell electric cars in Australia from 2026, a switch estimated to take place as EVs pass 70 per cent of its deliveries in 2025.
Volvo has since backtracked on the plans, citing slower-than-forecast uptake of electric cars, and the lack of key models it expected to have when the target was announced.
“By the end of this calendar year, we'll be at 40 per cent. What's delaying that growth is that the EX90 was going to [come in] bigger volumes,” said Connor.
“So that would've taken us up, and we were due to have the EX60 earlier than we have.
“But next year, when [EX90] grows in volume, when we get the EX60, which will be close to probably 2000 units in one full year, all of a sudden we will be above 60 per cent and probably heading quite quickly towards 75 or even 80 per cent.
“The EX60 will be the game changer for us. Once we bring that in, then we can sit back and go, okay, when do we start to phase out some of the mild-hybrids?
“But generally, I really do believe that customers will have two cars. I think they can have a plug-in hybrid for the long range and the anxiety, and they're also going to have an EV.”
Previously, Volvo has sold the electric C40 Recharge and XC40 Recharge small SUVs in the Australian market.
The XC40 Recharge has been renamed EX40, with the XC40 mild-hybrid sitting alongside it. Meanwhile, the C40 Recharge was discontinued earlier this year, after the EX30 small electric SUV's arrival.
The car maker also recently introduced the EX90 large electric SUV to its line-up, alongside the mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid XC90.
The ES90 electric sedan is due to arrive in the coming weeks, and the EX60 mid-size SUV is expected to follow next year.
In September, electric vehicles represented 11.3 per cent of new-car sales, behind regular hybrids (13.9 per cent) but ahead of plug-in hybrids (4.2 per cent).
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A born-and-bred newshound, Kathryn has worked her way up through the ranks reporting for, and later editing, two renowned UK regional newspapers and websites, before moving on to join the digital newsdesk of one of the world’s most popular newspapers – The Sun. More recently, she’s done a short stint in PR in the not-for-profit sector, and led the news team at Wheels Media.
