We rarely get to talk about the XC60. It’s primarily because just about every announcement from Volvo is about a new electric vehicle. In addition, the midsize luxury SUV is getting a bit long in the tooth, having been around since 2017. Despite the lack of coverage and few updates in recent years, the XC60 is still going strong.
The Geely-owned brand had a record-breaking 2023 when it sold a total of 708,716 cars, up by 15 percent compared to 2022. The XC60 was its most popular product, racking up sales of 228,646 units (up from 195,338 units in 2022). It managed to beat the smaller and cheaper XC40 (200,670 units) as well as the range-topping XC90 (107,549 units), both of which enjoyed a bump in sales over the previous year.
On its road to becoming purely electric by the end of this decade, the Swedish luxury marque witnessed a remarkable 70 percent increase in EV sales, totaling 113,419 zero-emission cars or 16 percent of total shipments in 2023. Moreover, demand for plug-in hybrids surged by 10 percent to 152,561 PHEVs.
Almost every major region experienced growth for Volvo last year. Deliveries in Europe soared by 19 percent to 294,794 vehicles, while in China, they increased by five percent to 170,091. Additionally, sales in the US rose by 26 percent to 128,701 cars, with demand in other regions growing by 11 percent to 115,130 units.
Although SUVs dominated the market in 2023, leading to the discontinuation of the S60, V60, and V90 in the United Kingdom, Volvo remains dedicated to the production of sedans and wagons. In fact, the company’s inaugural electric saloon has recently entered pre-series production, possibly to be named the ES90. Let’s not forget there’s even a minivan now, exclusive to China – the rather striking EM90, mechanically related to the Zeekr 009.
As to what lies ahead, Volvo has pledged to end production of cars with diesel engines in early 2024. Even though the EX90 is now the new flagship SUV, the old XC90 with combustion engines is sticking around for the time being. The rollout of new models such as the high-volume EX30 entry-level electric vehicle is expected to boost annual sales to as much as 1.2 million by 2025.
