Volvo Car Group is aiming for annual sales of over one million vehicles in the long term as the company bets on strong growth in the Chinese market. Volvo chairman Li Shufu said the company targets annual sales of 800,000 cars by 2020, nearly double the level last year, helped mainly by growth in China.
“The long-term target beyond 2020 is above a million cars,” Li Shufu told Swedish business daily Dagens Industri. “China is a rapidly growing car market where customers have become more mature. That is why Volvo has a faster growth than other brands. We aim to reach the same market share there as in mature markets in Europe. This way we can reach half a million cars in China,” Shufu added.
The executive also said that the company’s goal beyond 2020 should be to reach and exceed sales of 1 million units.
Owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Volvo posted its ninth straight month of growth thanks to strong demand in China and a recovery in the United States. The carmaker said that it delivered 47,850 cars globally in March, up 17.9 percent on the same month a year ago. This means sales for the first quarter reached 108,170 units, up 9.5 percent compared with the same period in 2013.
China was Volvo’s largest market last month, with sales increasing more than 25 percent in the first quarter. Volvo sales rose nearly 50 percent last year in China, with new models and an expansion of its dealer network expected to bring further growth.
By Dan Mihalascu
Story References: Dagens Industri via Reuters
PHOTO GALLERY
