Volvo Cars First Quarter 2022 – A Stable Performance in an Unstable Environment
Volvo Cars today reports a stable financial result for the first quarter 2022, with gradual impact from the market disturbances caused by the war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 lockdowns in Asia.
“In the first few months of 2022, the war in Ukraine has destroyed lives and displaced millions of innocent people. The same war has also sent already rising inflation to new heights and further disrupted supply chains that were already fragile,” said Jim Rowan, chief executive of Volvo Cars. “When summarizing Volvo Cars’ performance during this first quarter, I am incredibly pleased that we have delivered such stable results.”
The interim report for the first quarter, which can be found here, shows that Volvo Cars’ revenue amounted to SEK 74.3 bn, up from SEK 68.6 bn the same period last year. EBIT for Volvo’s core operations was SEK 5.9 billion or 7.9 per cent, and reported EBIT was SEK 6.0 billion or 8.1 per cent.
Volvo Cars sold a total of 148,295 cars in the first quarter as the supply chain constraints affecting the company continued to slowly ease. However, late in the quarter the company was hit by a shortage of a specific component which will also impact production during the second quarter. Volvo Cars considers this a temporary set-back and expect the supply chains to improve in the second half of the year. The company expects marginal growth in sales volumes for the full year 2022, compared to 2021, although uncertainty is high.”
Volvo Cars plug-in hybrid and fully electric Recharge models remain popular among customers and the share of electrified cars continued to rise. In the first quarter, Recharge sales made up 34 per cent of total sales, whereof fully electric cars made up 8 per cent doubling in the space of the last two quarters. That share will continue to grow as we increase our annual production capacity of fully electric cars to 150,000 units after summer. For the full year 2022, Volvo Cars expect continued high growth of fully electric cars.
The number of active subscriptions in the first quarter increased by 174 per cent compared with the same period last year. This growth was driven by customer demand in combination with a broadened offer as online fleet sales for small and medium enterprises were introduced both in the UK and in Sweden. In the first quarter, online sales made up 13 per cent of total sales in established markets.
Volvo Cars efforts to reduce its CO2 footprint per car are progressing according to plan. In the first quarter CO2 emissions were 13.4 per cent lower compared with 2018, supporting the company 2025 ambition of a 40 per cent CO2 reduction per car.
“The strategic direction remains clear and very much in focus; the fastest transformer in the industry, a fully electric brand with direct consumer relations, and lower carbon emissions is our way forward,” said Jim Rowan. “To achieve our ambitions we will increase our pace of product development, strengthen the resilience of our supply chain, and accelerate our digital and software capabilities.”
