Half of all new Volvos sold last month were EVs

There was a collective gasp from the industry last November when Volvo Car Australia announced it would only sell electric vehicles as of 2026 – four years before its parent company goes all-EV – and yet battery-powered vehicles accounted for 49 per cent of the Swedish brand’s local sales last month.

Volvo Car Australia delivered 1037 vehicles in August (up 46% month-on-month), including 122 examples of the new C40 Pure Electric small SUV and 382 examples of the XC40 Pure Electric small SUV, the latter of which accounted for more than 64 per cent of all local XC40 deliveries.

Volvo sales are up 12.3 per cent overall to August this year Down Under, following double-digit growth last year, and should increase further when the smaller and cheaper new Volvo EX30 small SUV arrives within six months.

“We have received over 800 pre-orders for the new EX30, our smallest ever electric SUV, which boasts the smallest carbon footprint of any Volvo produced to date,” said Volvo Car Australia managing director Stephen Connor.

“With the EX30 we have experienced record enquiry and order intake measured against all of our recently introduced electric vehicle models.

“Customer deliveries of our EX30 are planned to commence in Q1 of next year so I encourage our new customers placing orders from today to stay in close contact with their chosen retailer.”

Connor’s comments signal a minor delay for the arrival of the all-new small EV, which was previously due to land here by the end of this year and will eventually square up against the new Peugeot e-2008 and the upcoming Kia EV4 and Ford Puma EV.

Volvo EX30 pricing starts from $59,990 plus on-road costs and tops out at $69,990 before options – considerably less than EV versions of the XC40 (from $73,990) and the EV-only C40 ($75,990).

Connor said the rising popularity of the brand’s EVs was reassurance the local operation had made the right move regarding its 2026 electric transition.

“Globally, Volvo is firmly committed to becoming an electric-only car-maker by 2030, but in Australia we’ve previously announced we will make the transition to full electric vehicles happen by 2026,” he said.

“Our continuing strong results in 2023, and the popularity of Volvo’s pure EVs, reinforces that this is the right strategy for the Australian market.”

Almost 57,000 new EVs have been delivered in Australia to August this year – up a big 291.2 per cent on the same eight-month period in 2022.

For everything you auto know about EVs, listen to carsales' Watts Under the Bonnet: the electric car podcast

Join the conversation at 

our Facebook page

Or email us at 

editor@carsales.com.au