F&I Management & Training

Volvo is celebrating after bucking national trends and beating the downturn with rising sales of its new cars during 2008. According to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), Volvo enjoyed a sales increase of 10.98% in comparison to 2007. Market share in the UK was also up 25% on the previous year - rising from 1.25% to 1.56%. This strong end to the year has also been carried over in the early days of 2009 with sales up 16 per cent compared to the same period last year. Volvo sold a total of 33,358 cars during 2008 and was one of only nine manufacturers on the 52-strong SMMT list to have experienced positive sales growth. The results are in marked contrast to the new car market as a whole, which experienced an overall drop of 11.32% in 2008 - equivalent to 272,212 fewer cars sold to UK customers. Sales of the Volvo C30 SportsCoupe rose by 27.6% thanks, in part, to the launch of the sports inspired R-DESIGN specification. The Volvo S40 and V50 also benefited from the introduction of the R-DESIGN specification and they enjoyed even greater success, with increases of 39.4% and 68.8% respectively. The versatile Volvo V70 premium estate also bucked national trends with sales rising by 9.6% in its segment. Nick Connor, Sales Director at Volvo Car UK Ltd, said: "Our efforts to realign price and trim levels gave our model range an additional edge in 2008. "The introduction of the R-DESIGN package on C30, S40 and V50 models has also played a major role in attracting new customers to the brand, while used car experts CAP say it's also had a positive effect on residual values too, further increasing the cars' desirability at a time of economic uncertainty."

DATED: 13.01.09

FEED: AW