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Volvo Cars (VOLCAR B:STO)* today posted a record-breaking year in 2024 with the highest full-year retail sales, revenues and core operating profit in its 98-year history. However, the Chinese owned company anticipates a turbulent 2025 “due to challenging market conditions,” aka Trump’s Trade and Tariff Wars.** “Full-year revenues exceeded SEK 400 billion for the first time in the company’s history, due to a new all-time sales record of 763,389 cars. Its full-year core operating profit of SEK 27 billion, excluding joint ventures and associates, was another record and up 6% compared to 2023. The core operating margin came in at 6.8%, up from 6.4% in 2023,” Volvo said.
“2024 was a year of two halves,” said Jim Rowan, chief executive for Volvo Cars. “For the first six months, we recorded strong double-digit volume growth. But like the rest of the industry, we experienced a more challenging second half. Demand slowed down and this had an impact on both our sales pace and underlying profitability.”
However, Group operating income in the fourth quarter was affected by a SEK 1.7 billion write-down related to assets in the NOVO joint venture, before the company took full financial control of NOVO from an accounting perspective.
“Gross margins for the fourth quarter came in at 17.1%, impacted by a one-time effect from the sale of on-balance sheet cars. This increased both revenue and cost of sales and lowered the Q4 gross margin. Volvo Cars also saw a considerably larger decrease in inventory during Q4 compared to the previous year, which further impacted gross margins. Margins were also affected by car line and sales channel mix as well as pricing pressure in the market, but this was partially offset by a more efficient cost structure for new car sales,” Volvo said.
“Naturally, the current turmoil in our industry is not only down to cyclical effects. As said, we are witnessing a fundamental rebalancing of the car industry and we stand on the precipice of profound change. This is the pivotal moment in time where the winners of next-generation mobility are defined. What we do in the next two years will shape us for the next two decades. Said Rowan.
*Volvo Cars is a subsidiary of Geely Holding, which owns ~ 78.7% of the company’s outstanding shares. Geely Holding, a Chinese multinational enterprise, bought Volvo from Ford Motor in 2010.
**AutoInformed on
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Volvo Cars Posts Record Sales, Revenue, Profits in 2024, but…
Click to enlarge.
Volvo Cars (VOLCAR B:STO)* today posted a record-breaking year in 2024 with the highest full-year retail sales, revenues and core operating profit in its 98-year history. However, the Chinese owned company anticipates a turbulent 2025 “due to challenging market conditions,” aka Trump’s Trade and Tariff Wars.** “Full-year revenues exceeded SEK 400 billion for the first time in the company’s history, due to a new all-time sales record of 763,389 cars. Its full-year core operating profit of SEK 27 billion, excluding joint ventures and associates, was another record and up 6% compared to 2023. The core operating margin came in at 6.8%, up from 6.4% in 2023,” Volvo said.
“2024 was a year of two halves,” said Jim Rowan, chief executive for Volvo Cars. “For the first six months, we recorded strong double-digit volume growth. But like the rest of the industry, we experienced a more challenging second half. Demand slowed down and this had an impact on both our sales pace and underlying profitability.”
However, Group operating income in the fourth quarter was affected by a SEK 1.7 billion write-down related to assets in the NOVO joint venture, before the company took full financial control of NOVO from an accounting perspective.
“Gross margins for the fourth quarter came in at 17.1%, impacted by a one-time effect from the sale of on-balance sheet cars. This increased both revenue and cost of sales and lowered the Q4 gross margin. Volvo Cars also saw a considerably larger decrease in inventory during Q4 compared to the previous year, which further impacted gross margins. Margins were also affected by car line and sales channel mix as well as pricing pressure in the market, but this was partially offset by a more efficient cost structure for new car sales,” Volvo said.
“Naturally, the current turmoil in our industry is not only down to cyclical effects. As said, we are witnessing a fundamental rebalancing of the car industry and we stand on the precipice of profound change. This is the pivotal moment in time where the winners of next-generation mobility are defined. What we do in the next two years will shape us for the next two decades. Said Rowan.
*Volvo Cars is a subsidiary of Geely Holding, which owns ~ 78.7% of the company’s outstanding shares. Geely Holding, a Chinese multinational enterprise, bought Volvo from Ford Motor in 2010.
**AutoInformed on
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.