Americans Just Aren't Buying Volvo EVs

Without the entry-level EX30 on dealer lots, the Swedish automaker sold shockingly few EVs in the U.S. last month.

Volvo EV Chart

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Iulian Dnistran

By: Iulian Dnistran

Dec 4, 2024 at 8:14am ET

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Volvo is having a rough year in terms of EV sales in the U.S.
The Swedish automaker sold fewer than 500 EVs last month here.
Year-to-date, EV sales went down 63% compared to 2023.

Volvo is struggling to sell all-electric cars in the United States. While its EV game has seen solid gains in Europe, China and everywhere else, the story is completely different stateside. As in, it’s very bad. And a lack of new models that are powering Volvo's electric success elsewhere is to blame.

In November, Volvo sold just 493 fully electric cars in the U.S. No typos, you read that correctly. To make matters worse, that's down 41% compared to last November when 840 EVs were sold stateside, but the final blow comes when comparing year-to-date sales.

In the first 11 months of 2024, Volvo sold 4,819 EVs, down a whopping 63% from last year’s 12,923 units. To put things in perspective, Honda has sold 25,000 Prologue EVs since the beginning of the year, and that car isn’t even Honda’s own creation—instead, it’s based on General Motors’ Ultium platform and is assembled alongside other GM EVs in Mexico.

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Back in October, Volvo said that “the car market in the company’s main regions of Europe, China and the U.S. is increasingly under pressure which affects demand.” But General Motors, Honda, Hyundai and Kia are doing quite well, so surely there must be other factors at play here.

One reason I can think of is the current EV portfolio offered to American customers. The EX40 and EC40 (formerly known as the XC40 Recharge and C40 Rechage) are the only EVs on sale right now in the U.S., and they’re both $50,000+ cars. We're generally fans of them here at InsideEVs, but in terms of specs they're rather dated compared to more modern examples.

The real problem in the U.S. is the lack of the entry-level EX30. That car should've been on sale earlier this year but because it's made in China, it got spiked by Biden administration tariffs—leaving Volvo without this huge electric growth driver it has in Europe and other regions.

After Volvo worked out pricing, the EX30 is finally on its way to the U.S., with deliveries set to begin before the year ends. In Europe, it proved to be a hit, but because the first version to ship to the U.S. will be the mid-tier, dual-motor, its starting price is $46,195 (including destination).

Volvo EX30

The Volvo EX30 will arrive at U.S. dealerships by the year's end.

That’s a pretty penny for a car that’s about the same size as a Hyundai Kona, so it will be interesting to see if the subcompact crossover will turn the tide for Volvo stateside. Granted, the Kona doesn't have 422 horsepower, but in such a small car, that sounds like overkill.

And then there's the much more luxurious EX90 SUV. Originally positioned as an electric successor the XC90 that helped reset Volvo for the modern era (which is now returning as a hybrid), American supplies of the EX90 are off to a slow start. A search of Cars.com reveals fewer than 300 are for sale nationwide as of this writing and our early tests indicated it doesn't feel quite "finished" in terms of software and features, so Volvo Cars USA won't be able to count on that as a growth-driver for a while.

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Also, it’s not all bad news for Volvo. In Europe, sales of its all-electric lineup went up 50% in November and 86% year-on-year. Overall, including combustion vehicles, global sales went up 5% last month and year-to-date, the Swedish automaker sold 9% more cars than in 2023.

Globally, EV sales are also doing well, with a 40% increase in November and a 59% increase year-over-year–it’s just the United States where the brand is suffering on the EV front.

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