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Volvo Cars is slashing its sales forecast for the year in the face of slowing global demand for its vehicles, an increasingly volatile automotive environment and consumer reluctance to switch to battery-powered cars. Volvo, which makes the all-electric EX90 SUV in Berkeley County, said this week that it expects full-year sales to increase between 7 percent and 8 percent in 2024. That's down from the previous range of 12 percent to 15 percent growth.
Volvo Cars CEO Jim Rowan. "We are seeing a general weakening in demand for premium cars and our key regions of China and the USA," CEO Jim Rowan said during a quarterly earnings call with financial analysts and investors. "And even in Europe, we are seeing signs of a slowing and softer demand.
This is mainly due to the macroeconomic factors such as higher interest rates (and) a changing consumer sentiment." Rowan said a lack of charging infrastructure, reduced government incentives, high vehicle costs and uncertainty created by proposed tariffs have hurt EV sales, with the headwinds intensifying. Here's a look at Scout's newly revealed EVs to be built in SC "We expect the industry to remain under pressure for a period to come," he said.
"As the turbulence around the world is increasing, we remain confident that we have a balanced lineup of cars that will help us navigate this period effectively." The Sweden-based automaker, majority-owned by China's Geely Holding Group, has delayed its goal to produce only electric vehicles by 2030 and will continue making hybrid cars for longer than planned. Rowan said the company is gradually ramping up production of the EX90 at its Lowcountry plant, adding he is "confident that EX90 will redefine the premium electric SUV just as the XC90 redefined the large SUV almost 20 years ago.
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He's still on the ballot. Target distribution partner opening new SC site as Port of Charleston imports surge Questions persist about the EX90 lidar safety system, which is intended to detect obstacles in the road, even at night, and automatically steer the vehicle away from danger. The feature was among those missing from initial deliveries of the vehicle — which has a list price of $79,995 — and Rowan said the company is still gathering data on how it's operating.
"We need to capture the data so that we can then run that through our analytics and our data centers here so that we can really interrogate what the car is seeing," he said. The feature is expected to be added via an over-the-air software update next year. Volvo beat expectations for the third quarter with a 1 percent increase in year-over-year sales to about $8.
8 billion. The actual number of cars sold increased by 3.2 percent to 172,849 for the three-month period.
A 31 percent increase in European sales helped offset drops of 23 percent and 12 percent in China and the U.S., respectively.
SC growth stuck in overdrive without brakes to slow it, Fed economist tells trade group Volvo sold 28,535 cars in the U.S. during the third quarter, down from 32,375 for the same period a year earlier.
Investment analysts at Bernstein called Volvo's third quarter "a handsome beat on revenue and margin," according to a report by Reuters . But Rowan reiterated tough times are ahead. "The EV segment, that is still developing," he said.
"So, I think we are one of the pioneers in that, and we'll push the boundaries on that. But it's a tough market, and we've got to be competitive.".
