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Volvo produced one million XC40 units at the Belgian plant

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The Ghent plant is one of the most profitable facilities of the Swedish car manufacturer Volvo, where EX40/XC40 models are produced. It is a subcompact luxury crossover SUV that arrived on the market in 2017, and a few days ago, the company announced that one million XC40s left this plant.

Aside from conventional petrol and diesel engines, a plug-in hybrid model was introduced in 2019, and a battery electric vehicle model was released a year later. Both the plug-in hybrid and the battery electric versions were marketed as the XC40 Recharge. In 2024, Volvo renamed the battery electric XC40 to the Volvo EX40, aligning it with newer battery electric models such as the EX30 and the EX90.

In 2023, the XC40 was Volvo’s second best-selling model, after the XC60, while increased demand for the smaller model, the EX30, in early 2024 pushed the XC40 into third place.

In April, Volvo announced that it was moving the production of the EX30 model to its factory in Ghent, with which this plant will reach its maximum production capacity. Last year, about 230,000 units left the factory in Ghent, of which 60 percent were electric cars.

Source: Volvo

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Volvo produced over 100,000 units of the EX30

The Volvo EX30 is the smallest model in the Swedish manufacturer’s fleet but also the second best-selling electric car in Europe in August, after the Tesla Model Y. Now Volvo has announced that it has produced the 100,000th EX30, which is an extraordinary result.

Since the start of 2024, Volvo has sold 53,966 examples of the EX30, making it the company’s second best-selling car after the Volvo XC60 with 58,254 deliveries. However, given that the monthly sales of the smaller SUV are twice as high, it is possible that with the September results, the EX30 will become Volvo’s best-selling car.

The starting price of the EX30 model in Europe is 36,000 euros. The version with one motor and a standard battery has a range of 440 kilometers. An extended-range battery that costs 4,200 euros more and offers up to 593 kilometers on a single charge.

In April, Volvo announced that it was moving the production of the EX30 model to Europe, specifically to its factory in Ghent, Belgium. The Ghent plant is one of the most profitable for the Swedish-Chinese brand, which currently produces the EX40 and XC40 models. However, there is still enough capacity in Ghent to produce the EX30 with which Volvo will achieve the maximum production volume. Last year, about 230,000 units left the factory in Ghent, of which 60 percent were electric cars.

Source: Volvo

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Volvo supports a ban on ICE cars after 2035

Although many European car manufacturers have abandoned the plan to become fully electric by 2030, and put their focus on hybrids, they still believe in the EU’s plans. One of them is Volvo, which believes that the EU must not abandon the ban on the sale of ICE cars after 2035.

At the beginning of 2021, Volvo announced that it is rapidly moving towards the complete electrification of its fleet by the end of the decade. However, production problems and a drop in demand for EVs showed that everything was too fast. This forced Volvo to change its plan and face reality.

The Swedish company has announced that it will continue to produce cars with internal combustion engines after 2030, but they will have mild hybrid systems and will be produced in limited series. Also, the plan is for PHEVs and electric cars to account for between 50 and 60 percent of total sales by the end of this year. This target is too ambitious if we consider the sales of the last few months when fully electric cars accounted for only 26 percent of the total sales.

Volvo and 49 other car companies have signed a declaration with which they unreservedly support the European Union’s plan to ban the sale of cars with internal combustion engines, which should enter into force from 2035.

Some car companies disagree with the Swedish manufacturer. Similar opinion is shared by officials in several European Union countries who consider the plan absurd and unsustainable. The goal of the European Union is cars without harmful emissions, but not at any cost. In theory, this leaves room for internal combustion engines that would use synthetic fuel or hydrogen.

Source: Euronews