Volvo Cars has reported an all-time high revenue and profitability for the full year 2021. Demand for cars remained strong with growing unit sales, despite persistent component supply shortages in the auto industry, the company said in a release.  

Volvo Cars has posted revenue of SEK 282 billion for 2021, up from SEK 262.8 billion in 2020. Its operating income rose 7.2 percent to SEK 20.3 billion, up from SEK 8.5 billion in Covid-19 affected 2020.  

Håkan Samuelsson, chief executive, Volvo Cars, said, “2021 was a year to be proud of for Volvo Cars. Despite persistent component supply shortages in the auto industry, we increased market share globally and delivered all-time high revenue and profitability.” 

However, the interim report for the fourth quarter showed that the revenues dropped 6 percent to SEK 80.1 billion. Demand and order intake remained strong, but production was restrained. The negative effect of volumes was offset by strong price realisation and a shift towards high margin models. On the other hand, the share of income in joint ventures and associates reduced operating income, primarily driven by strategic affiliates such as Polestar, where costs were incurred in their early development phase and a change in accounting treatment related to deferred tax assets. Operating income was SEK 3.7 billion in the quarter, representing an operating margin of 4.6 per cent. Excluding share of income from joint ventures and associates, EBIT margin was 7.1 per cent, the company said in a release. 

Sales volumes in the fourth quarter fell 20 per cent compared to the same period in 2020.
The company’s electrified line-up continued to be popular with customers and Recharge models made up 34 per cent of the global volume in the fourth quarter.
Plug-in hybrids amounted to 28 per cent of volumes, while fully electric cars made up 6 per cent of total sales in the fourth quarter. 

The share of fully electric cars as part of total sales will continue to grow as Volvo Cars increase the annual production capacity for fully electric cars to 150,000 cars after summer and, for the full year 2022, the company expects that share to have more than doubled compared with the full year 2021. 

The company said uncertainty is still high. While the component shortage has eased somewhat, the supply chain is expected to remain a restraining factor. At the same time, Volvo Cars continues to see strong customer demand, and expects that electric cars will grow faster than the overall market. This should allow the company to continue growing sales volume in 2022, the release added. (MT)  

Mumbai-based automotive major Mahindra & Mahindra has announced its wholesales for April 2025 at 84,170 vehicles, a growth of 19 percent, including exports.

The auto major sold a total of 52,330 SUVs in the domestic market, which was 28 percent higher than 41,008 SUVs sold for the same period last year. Commercial vehicle sales in the domestic market came at 22,989 units, which was 4 percent YoY. 

Veejay Nakra, President, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra, said, “Building on the strong momentum of last year's performance, we began the year on a strong note in April by achieving SUV sales of 52,330 units, a growth of 28 percent and total vehicle sales of 84,170 units, a 19 percent growth over the same month last year. These numbers indicate the strength of our portfolio and customer offerings.”

JSW MG Motor India, a leading passenger vehicles manufacturer, has announced its wholesales for April 2025.

The company reported sales of 5,829 units, which was 23 percent higher over April 2024, when it sold 4,725 vehicles.

Interestingly, the automaker's popular offering, the Windsor EV, has continued to be the top-selling electric passenger vehicle for the seventh month in a row.

JSW MG Motor India's Windsor EV has now gone home to over 20,000 customers.

Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s largest carmaker, has reported its wholesales of 179,791 units in April 2025, marking a 7 percent increase compared to 168,089 units sold in April 2024. The growth was primarily propelled by strong performance in utility vehicles and a sharp rise in export volumes.

Domestic sales, including passenger and light commercial vehicles, remained flat with 142,053 units, as compared to 140,448 units in April 2024. Within this, light commercial vehicles (LCVs) like the Super Carry saw a significant jump of 34.2 percent, with sales rising to 3,349 units from 2,496 units last year.

In the passenger vehicle segment, SUVs such as the Brezza, Ertiga, Grand Vitara and others recorded a 4.4 percent increase, selling 59,022 units compared to 56,553 in the previous year. However, sales for Eeco declined by 5.2 percent, while the mini segment (Alto, S-Presso) saw a sharp 45 percent drop, falling to 6,332 units from 11,519 units. The compact segment, which includes high-volume models like the Baleno and Swift, grew by 8.1 percent, reaching 61,591 units.

Sales to Toyota Kirloskar Motor rose sharply by 79.2 percent, from 5,481 units to 9,827 units, indicating a growing demand for cross-badged products.

The standout performer was the export segment, which surged 26 percent to 27,911 units from 22,160 units in April 2024. This strong export growth helped bolster the company’s overall numbers despite weaknesses in domestic sub-segments.

While some product lines such as the mid-size sedan Ciaz (-63 percent) continue to struggle.

Tata Motors reported total wholesales of 72,753 units for April 2025, reflecting a 6 percent year-on-year decline from 77,521 units in April 2024.

The passenger vehicle (PV) segment, including electric vehicles, accounted for 45,532 units, down 5 percent from 47,983 units in the same month last year. Within this, domestic PV sales dropped 6 percent to 45,199 units, while international business (IB) sales rose significantly to 333 units, up from 100 units. Electric vehicle sales (domestic + IB) declined 16 percent year-on-year to 5,318 units.

Commercial vehicle (CV) sales stood at 27,221 units, marking an 8 percent YoY drop from 29,538 units in April 2024. Domestic CV sales contracted 10 percent to 25,764 units, while CV exports (IB) grew 43 percent to 1,457 units. Key sub-segments like Small Commercial Vehicles (SCV) and pickups saw a steep 23 percent decline.

Despite growth in certain categories like ILMCV trucks and passenger carriers, overall sales momentum was tempered across both PV and CV segments.