Volvo has revealed the 2020 financial results. The figures show that the brand did not come out of the corona crisis completely undamaged, but that the damage is relatively easy.
Particularly in the first half of 2020, Volvo has experienced the consequences of the corona virus outbreak. To illustrate: of the total of 661,713 cars sold, more than 59 percent rolled out of the showroom in the second half of the year. Total turnover for the full year amounted to € 25.9 billion, a decrease of 4.1 percent compared to 2019. Net profit fell slightly faster by 18.9 percent, but there was a profit: € 768 million converted over the seen all year round. Profits were saved in the second half of the year: Volvo had a net profit of € 833 million in that period at the bottom of the line. More than the annual profit, therefore, as there was still a loss in the first half of 2020.
CEO Hakan Samuelsson says in an explanation of the figures that he has used the first half of 2020 to implement a reduction in fixed costs. In addition, Volvo set up online sales channels to still be able to deliver cars during the corona crisis. This approach apparently bore fruit in the second half of the year. Furthermore, the CEO sees a sharp increase in interest in the Recharge models, which accounted for 29 percent of total sales in 2020.
Electric arsenal
In 2021, he expects Volvo’s sales and turnover to grow and that the brand will be at the same level as 2019 in terms of profitability. Samuelsson does not go into further detail about this. Important news is already on the roll in March: Volvo will pull the curtain off a new EV, which will probably be called C40. It will be on the CMA platform of the XC40 Recharge and Polestar 2, but will get a ‘more streamlined body’ than the XC40. How that will look in practice remains to be seen for a while.