Volvo Cars reported the strongest second-half sales numbers in the company's history in 2020, as fast-growing demand for its electrified cars boosted the company's recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Volvo acted decisively to mitigate the effect of the pandemic during the first half of the year, allowing it to quickly restart its operations after a brief shutdown and embark on a strong recovery, helped by fast-growing demand for its Recharge lineup of chargeable cars.

The share of Recharge models, with a fully electric or plug-in hybrid powertrain, more than doubled in 2020 compared with 2019. In Europe, the share of Recharge cars of overall sales was 29%, making Volvo the leading brand in the region for chargeable cars. It was also a leading plug-in hybrid brand in the U.S.A.

In China and the U.S.A, its two largest individual markets, the company reported growing sales for the full year as it managed to more than recover a pandemic-related sales drop in the first half during the second half of the year.

While sales dropped by 21% in the first half of the year, the company resumed its growth trajectory of recent years in the second half of 2020, reporting solid month-on-month growth from June onwards. Sales rose by 7.4% to 391,751 cars in the second half of the year compared with the same period in 2019.

Globally, Volvo Cars sold 661,713 cars in 2020, a decline of 6.2% compared to 2019. Although final numbers for the full year are yet to be confirmed, the company outperformed its competitors and gained market share in all its main sales regions during the first 11 months of the year.

Sales rose by 7.5% in China in 2020 compared with 2019, to 166,617 cars. In the U.S.A., the company sold 110,129 cars, a 1.8% increase compared with the year before. In both markets, strong demand for the company's award-winning SUV lineup was responsible for the majority of sales volumes.

In Europe, Volvo Cars saw strong demand for its Recharge cars in many key markets. A sluggish overall market, held down by pandemic-related restrictions, meant that overall sales fell by 15.5% for the whole year.

The pandemic also accelerated the company's move towards online sales, which will continue to be a focus area in 2021. In 2020, Volvo Cars more than doubled its number of subscriptions sold online versus 2019. Conquest rates via this channel continued to be high, supporting the increase in market share.

Volvo Cars is committed to becoming a premium electric car company, and in the coming years will launch several fully electric cars. By 2025, it aims for its global sales to consist of 50% fully electric cars, with the rest hybrids. It is currently the only car maker to offer a plug-in hybrid variant of every model in its portfolio.