The year that just ended has been marked by good market performance for Volvo. The Swedish automaker announced that through 2014, it sold 465,866 cars equating to an 8.9 percent increase over 2013 and yet another year of record sales.

Growth in China and (somewhat surprisingly) western Europe, is noted in the official press blurb. The Chinese market showed the largest growth factor over the previous year – 32.8 percent up, equating to 81,221 cars sold; it’s establishing itself as Volvo’s primary market.

For the US, the plan is to continue to expand its presence. Sales dropped slightly, by 7.9 percent, but still amounted to 56,371 examples, with the most popular models being the S60 and XC60. This year, the introduction of the XC90 will surely make its presence felt.

World-wide, the XC60 (pictured) proved the best selling adding up to 136,993 units (up from 114,010 in 2013). Coming a fairly close second was the V60 which (along with the V40 Cross Country) racked up 110,528 sales, an improvement over last year’s 99,911.

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