Volvo Underestimated Plug-In Hybrid Demand: Will Triple Production

Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson admitted that the company hugely underestimated demand for its plug-in hybrid cars and now is hard at work to increase the production capacity.

Currently, Volvo does not have enough batteries, motors and other components to produce all the plug-in vehicles that it could sell. Further expansion should increase sales by 20-25% by the end of this year. The capacity is expected to triple compared to 2018, which should give the Swedish manufacturer a little room for new and updated models.

"We are not happy because we could sell more [plug-in hybrids], he said. We underestimated the demand. We are tripling the capacity from what we had about a year ago to where we will be at the end of this year."

According to Samuelsson, plug-in hybrids account for 10-15% of particular models offered in ICE and PHEV versions, globally.

Volvo PHEV sales in Europe according to JATO Dynamics:

• 2017: ≈16,000

• 2018: ≈26,800

• 2019: expected growth of 20-25% to 32,000-33,500 according to Volvo