Volvo Cars sold 31,760 cars in April, down 43.8% compared with the same month last year, as demand in Europe and the US continued to be affected by the coronavirus pandemic. China, meanwhile, returned to growth in April as showroom traffic began to return to normal levels.

In the January to April period, Volvo Cars global sales reached 163,649 cars, down 24.9% compared with the same period last year.

The share of Volvo Cars’ Recharge line-up of chargeable Volvo models doubled in the first four months, from 7% to 14%, compared with the same period last year. Recharge is the overarching brandname for all chargeable Volvo models with a fully electric or plug-in hybrid powertrain.

China sales in April reached 14,724 cars, up 20.8% as compared with the same month last year. In the first four months of the year sales declined by 15.6 percent, compared with the same period last year.

US sales in April stood at 3,866 cars, down 53.8%, compared with the same month last year. A majority of states in the country have now implemented stay-at-home orders which have led to a significant drop in showroom traffic. Between January and April, US sales declined by 23.3% to 23,351 cars, compared with the same period last year.

Volvo Cars’ sales in Europe reached 9,283 cars in April, down 66.8% versus the same month last year. In the the first four months of the year, sales declined by 30.3% year-on-year.

The European sales performance was significantly impacted in April due to restriced movement in several key markets including Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Belgium.

In April, the XC60 mid-size SUV was the top selling model for the company, followed by the compact XC40 SUV and the large XC90 SUV. During the month, SUVs accounted for 66.3% of the company’s total sales, up from 62.4% in same month last year.

During the first four months, the XC60 was the company’s top selling model with total sales of 47,838 cars (2019: 62,804 cars), followed by the XC40 with 39,976 cars (2019: 39,704 cars) and the XC90 with 22,752 cars (2019: 30,027 cars).