A Volvo EX30 all-electric EV automotive is on display during Everything Electric London 2024 at ExCel on March 28, 2024 in London, England.
John Keeble | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Shares of the Swedish automotive manufacturer Volvo cars fell greater than 6% in early trading on Wednesday after first-quarter sales fell.
Sales for the primary three months of the yr were 93.9 billion Swedish crowns ($8.65 billion), down 2% from the primary quarter of 2023.
The company’s shares fell 8% at 10:15 a.m. London time.
Core operating profit rose 8% year-on-year to six.8 billion Swedish crowns in the primary quarter. The figure excludes joint ventures and associated firms.
Retail sales also rose 12% year-on-year to 182,687 cars after setting a brand new record for monthly sales in March.
Volvo CEO Jim Rowan said that while sales growth was broad-based, its deal with premium cars left the corporate less exposed to increasing competition and weaker consumer spending within the mass market.
“I think because we’re in this premium segment of the market, we’re a little more protected,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
The automaker said the outcomes showed it was “on track” to fulfill its goal of a minimum of 15% annual sales growth.
“We have had a strong start to the year, with our first quarter results laying a solid foundation for the year ahead,” Rowan said in an announcement.
The growth included a slight increase in electric vehicle sales as the corporate doubled its share within the category. Electric vehicle gross margins rose to 16% in the primary quarter, in comparison with 7% a yr ago.
Rowan said it’s certainly one of the few firms that may display such margins in the electrical vehicle space.
“I think we are a little ahead of at least some of our competitors and we want to stay that way,” he said.
“Our focus is not only on delivering the best electric vehicles with the latest technologies, but also on doing so with solid margins,” said Rowan.
Looking ahead, Volvo Cars expects retail sales to proceed to rise in 2024 in comparison with last yr, with the share of fully electric vehicles expected to extend “significantly”.
Competition in the electrical vehicle market is heating up, and Chinese automakers are increasing production of lower-cost electric vehicles. Beijing has rejected claims from Washington and the EU that its producers are undercutting international competition.
Rowan said Volvo has not seen any impact from overcapacity concerns, noting that the corporate is targeting sales of high-end electric vehicles in China.
“We entered the Chinese market in the premium sector,” he said. “Where there is mass competition in the mass market for electric vehicles, we are not playing in that area.”
