Volvo is the latest automaker to post strong hybrid stats amid diminishing EV demand in the US through the first quarter of 2024. The Swedish brand is off to a positive start with a year-over-year sales increase of 17 percent, and hybrids are the reason why.
Specifically, Volvo plug-in hybrids were hot commodities through the end of March. These models were up 44 percent for the period, totaling 7,118 units. Mild hybrids were up 5 percent, leading the overall sales charge with 8,088 vehicles. EV sales, however, fell off a cliff. Just 970 fully electric Volvos were sold for the first three months of 2024, compared to 2,782 last year; a drop of 65 percent.
Gallery: 2023 Volvo XC60 Recharge Review
Volvo's entire US lineup is electrified to some degree, and most are available as plug-in hybrids. Only the XC40 and V90 Cross Country lack a plug-in option, and on the fully electric front, Volvo has the EX30, XC40 Recharge, C40 Recharge, and the EX90 flagship SUV. Among all models, the XC90 captured the most sales with 4,048 sold in March alone.
While it's not the first automaker this year to report robust hybrid sales, Volvo's first-quarter report is perhaps the clearest look at current trends among buyers in the US. Toyota reported very strong sales for the Prius, while Ford hyped its record-setting hybrid sales led by the Maverick hybrid, which increased 77 percent. To be fair, Ford also reported an 86-percent increase in EV sales with 20,223 sold. However, large EV inventories have prompted Ford to scale back Mach-E and Lightning production and offer more enticing incentives, so it'll be interesting to see how Q2 EV sales look at the Blue Oval.
Hyundai could be an outlier. The South Korean brand posted impressive EV sales gains for the first quarter of this year. The Ioniq 5 has proven to be a hot seller, but it's worth noting that the Tucson in hybrid and plug-in hybrid trim set a sales record. The Hyundai Palisade also set a sales record with 25,255 units sold, far more than all of Hyundai's EV sales combined.
It's also worth noting that things appear to be different in Europe. EV demand may not be waning as much, as evidenced by Volvo selling 31,237 fully electric cars for the first quarter. It's an increase of 48 percent from 2023, outselling plug-in hybrids which actually fell 2 percent for the period.
