Volvo is proving to be a popular car choice in the UK this year. At a time when the new car market is down three per cent year on year, Volvo is seeing a sales increase of 20 per cent year to date, from 17,709 units January to July 2007 to 21,155 for the same period in 2008.
The introduction of the sporty R-DESIGN package on Volvo C30, S40 and V50 has been well received by UK customers and the current top model performers are the Volvo C30, with a sales increase of 96 per cent year on year and the Volvo V50, Volvo’s UK best-selling model, which has already outperformed its full year 2007 results of 5576 units, and is up 93 per cent with 6151 registrations year to date.
“We’ve experienced a high level of interest in the Volvo range this year and we are confident this strong performance will continue throughout the rest of 2008. The addition of 2.0-litre engine derivatives in the Volvo V70 and S80, the new Powershift gearbox in Volvo C30, C70, S40 and V50 and the new sub 225g/km XC90 D5 Geartronic further widens our offering to both retail and corporate customers,” comments Nick Connor, Volvo Car UK sales director.
Fleet sales up nearly 70 per cent
The fleet sector, in particular, has seen great success with a 67.7 percent rise in end user fleet sales, for the first seven months of 2008 over the same period in 2007 (6,405 cars compared with 3,819 Jan to July 2007).
The Volvo S40 and V50 have seen the biggest improvement following the model design refresh last year, a specification realignment to enable easier like-for-like comparisons with premium competitors, and the introduction of the new R-DESIGN specification. These two models also recorded the largest fleet sales increase in the range, with S40 up 86% percent and the V50 Sportswagon up a staggering 176% percent year on year.
R-DESIGN improves RVs further
Used value guide CAP has responded favourably to R-DESIGN with recent future residual value forecasts increasing on the new trim levels. While CAP has reduced average trade price forecasts by 2.9% across the entire UK car sector, it has actually increased values on S40 and V50 - for instance the V50 2.0D R-DESIGN Sport on a typical three year 60,000 mile operating period has increased by over 6% (£7,575 - £8,050).
“It’s great to see a positive reaction from company motorists and the used value guides to our realignment. As a result the Volvo range is now more established in the company car policy hierarchy which will allow for more sustainable growth. A strong order pipeline also shows the steady increased demand for our product,” said John Wallace, Volvo’s Corporate Sales & Leasing Manager.
Volvo rated no. 1 for customer satisfaction
Volvo has also just achieved the number 1 position in the automotive sector in the UK for customer service in a recent survey by the Institute of Customer Service. This independent organisation asked 12,000 people about their experience of companies from a number of industries.
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