Volvo Cars reached a key milestone in September, delivering its one millionth plug-in hybrid (PHEV) as the Swedish automaker continues to position electrified models at the center of its growth strategy.
PHEVs accounted for 23% of Volvo’s global sales in the first half of 2025, up sharply from nearly 46,000 units sold in 2019 to more than 177,000 in 2024. Strong demand for the XC60 and XC90, particularly in Europe, the United States, and China, has underpinned the growth. The XC60 was Europe’s best-selling PHEV in 2024 and has led the global premium PHEV segment for three consecutive years.
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“Volvo Cars is committed to a fully electric future, and we will get there in a pace that suits our customers,” said Erik Severinson, chief commercial officer at Volvo Cars. “Our plug-in hybrid cars are a crucial bridge towards that future for those customers who are not yet ready to go fully electric.”
Volvo said its plug-in hybrid drivers often use the vehicles in full-electric mode, particularly in cities, with internal combustion power accounting for only about half of total driving time on average. The company recently introduced the XC70, its first long-range plug-in hybrid with an electric range exceeding 200 kilometers under the CLTC testing cycle, further expanding its PHEV portfolio.
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“While we invest and grow our presence in the growing premium fully electric segment, we will also continue to update and refresh our hybrids,” Severinson added. “This allows more time for charging infrastructure to be built up, thereby easing the transition to a fully electric world.”
In September, Volvo also announced plans to produce a new hybrid model in the United States by the end of the decade to mitigate the impact of tariffs on imported vehicles. The model, details of which have not been disclosed, will be tailored for the U.S. market and built at Volvo’s South Carolina plant to boost capacity utilization.
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“It will take time until America is electric everywhere,” Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson said. He described the upcoming hybrid as “more an electric car, but with a Plan B. When the battery is flat, you have a combustion engine kicking in, but normally you’d drive it electric.”
