KUALA LUMPUR: Volvo Car Malaysia (VCM) closed 2023 with a higher sales mix of its fully electric (BEV) segment over the previous year.
It was reported that the segment made up 18 per cent of the brand's annual total retail sales which represented an increase of 37 per cent compared to 2022.
Of the total, the company's Recharge range which includes BEVs and plug-in hybrids (PHEV) made up 71 per cent of total retail sales for the year. VCM's Recharge sales mix places it among the top 15 global markets in the Volvo Car Group (Volvo Cars), where the global average sales mix for Recharge variants stood at 38 per cent for 2023.
Managing director Charles Frump said 2023 was a transformative year for the company as it pivots towards a fully electric future.
He commended the government for the achievement for their decision to extend EV adoption incentives.
These incentives includes the exemption on excise duty, sales tax, and import tax exemption for locally assembled (CKD) EVs components until 2027, the exemption of import and excise duty for fully imported (CBU) EVs until 2025, and a full tax exemption for EV charging equipment manufacturers until 2032.
"All of our fully electric models are now sold directly on our online sales platform for a secure, transparent and hassle-free ownership journey. Despite showing a slight sales drop, we're very proud to have defended our segment share given that we were in between product cycles with no new launches last year," he said.
The company sold 2,694 cars in 2023 compared to 3,194 in 2022, which Frump said was a bumper year for the automotive industry following a full lifting of the Covid-19 pandemic's social distancing and operating restrictions, coupled with numerous government incentives to kickstart the local economy.
"After seven consecutive years of growth prior to 2023, we expect continued growth in 2024 with new, fully electric product launches on the horizon. We remain steadfast and aligned with our ambition to become a fully electric, premium car company by 2030 and see this reflected in our direction and performance as a global brand," he added.
2023 also saw the company open its largest Volvo Certified Damage Repair centre by iRoll in Juru, Penang in April and the launch of the biggest Volvo 3S showroom by Sisma Auto in Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur in November.
Globally, Volvo Cars set a new sales record with 708,716 cars sold in 2023 which is an increase of 15 per cent compared to 2022.
It also saw a significant increase in sales for its electrified cars segment - it reportedly saw an increase of 70 per cent of electric cars sold (113,419 units) compared to 2022.
PHEV sales also saw an increase of 10 per cent year-over-year (YoY) with 152,561 units sold.
Sales of fully electric cars accounted for 16 per cent of all Volvo cars sold globally during 2023.
