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Ford: Volvo Sales and Production 1998
In Japan, the market decreased by 12%. Volvo’s share of the total market was approximately 1%, but in the large car segment, which includes the Volvo S70 and V70, the Volvo S80, the Volvo S90 and V90 and the Volvo 940, Volvo’s share was 7% in Europe (8.2), 11.5% in North America (10.9) and 2.1% in Japan (2.1). In the medium-size class, which includes the Volvo S40 and V40, Volvo’s share in Europe was 4.3% (3.6). Positive figures for North America 1998 was Volvo’s best year in North America in eleven years. Sales increased by over 9% despite the fact that the product range was narrower than before. The gap in sales caused by the loss of the Volvo S90 and V90 was closed by a substantial increase in sales of the Volvo 70 series, especially the four-wheel drive models Volvo V70 AWD and Volvo V70 XC. The Volvo S80 saw a strong introduction in the end of the year with 6,600 cars sold. Sweden - Volvo 1st and 2nd In Sweden, registrations of new cars rose by 12% to 253,300 (225,300) units. The number of Volvo cars registered rose by 4% to 53,600 (51,400), while the market share fell from 22.8% to 21.2%. Even though Volvo S/V90 and 940, which scored second best in the registration figures for 1997, were phased out in the beginning of 1998, the sales of the 40-and 70-series more than enough compensated for this decline. Moreover, the sales of the new Volvo S80, with its 1,860 registrations, exceeded expectations. Positive sales trend in Europe For the second year in a row, Europe showed a positive trend in sales which increased the registrations of Volvo cars by 6.6% to 240,500 (230,900). In Germany, which now has advanced to Volvo’s third largest market, the number of Volvo cars registered increased by 15% to 42,400 (37,000). The Volvo S40 and V40 accounted for 23,200 cars. In the highly competitive UK-market, Volvo cars registrations dropped by 7.5% to 37,700 (40,700). However, in the fourth quarter Volvo took a very healthy 2.3% market share up from a cumulative 1.5% in the first nine months. This improved the year end figure to 1.7% (1.9). Product-wise, Volvo V70 continued to dominate the UK large estate segment despite increased competition. The steadily increasing market interest in Europe for diesel cars could be mirrored in Volvo cars registration figures for France and Belgium, where registrations increased by 29.5% to 9,800 (7,600) respectively 27% to 11,700 (9,200). In Switzerland, registrations increased by 20.4% to 8,400 (7,000). Continued decline in South-East Asia and Japan Due to the Asian crisis, 1998 was a difficult year for Asia in general. The total car market fell by 47% and the luxury segment dropped by 51%. However, relative to the competition, Volvo performed well. Volvo's market share increased in Taiwan and Hong Kong; and sales volume increased in Hong Kong and China. In China, Volvo has increased its sales volume over 3 consecutive years. In Japan, sales of Volvo cars dropped by 18% to 16,300 (19,900). Manufacture Total output of Volvo cars during the year amounted to 398,500 units (387,400), whereof
Manufacturing output by model series was as follows:
(January 27, 1999)
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