Volvo Cars’ March Sales Fall 22%, Hit By ‘Lack Of A Specific Type Of Semi-Conductor’

Volvo Cars recorded 58,677 sales in March down from 75,315 in the same month last year representing a 22% decline although customer demand remained high. The company said it’s “experiencing a temporary worsened production situation, expected to last throughout the second quarter due to lack of a specific type of semi-conductor.”

In March, Volvo Cars’ Recharge models made up 35.5% of all sales of Volvo cars sold globally during the month while sales of fully electric Volvo cars made up 9% of total sales. In the first quarter, Recharge sales made up 33.6% of total sales, while fully electric cars made up 7.9%.

“Over the past year, the auto industry has been impacted by the shortage of semi-conductors and Volvo Cars has previously communicated that it sees a gradual improvement in the supply of semi-conductors and production output month over month. However, due to this specific disturbance Volvo Cars now expects a temporary deviation from that trend,” reads a section of a press release published by the company. 

The company’s sales in China dropped by 22.6% to 12,378 cars in March while in the first quarter, it sold 35,698 cars in China, a decline of 21.1% compared with the same month last year. In Europe, Volvo Cars’ sales in March declined by 30.4% to 26,954 cars, with Recharge models constituting more than half of total European sales during the month. Whereas in the first quarter, Volvo Cars sold 65,157 cars in Europe, a decline of 25.6% compared with the same period last year.

The company added that the production disturbance is not related to the ongoing war in Ukraine since the company has limited direct relationships with suppliers from the war-torn country. Earlier last month, Volvo Cars announced that it was planning to set up a tech hub in Stockholm as part of its mega plan to sell at least half of its cars online by mid-decade.