Volvo Plug-in Hybrid models will be 25% of Volvo’s sales by the end of 2019

Volvo’s plug-in hybrid models in the 60 and 90 Series cars already account for 10-15% of sales, but that will rise to 25% by year end, says Volvo boss Hakan Samuelsson.

Car makers with plug-in hybrid models took a hit in the run-up – and aftermath – of the new WLTP emission regulations last year, but not Volvo.

Volvo were ahead of the game and sale of their plug-ins continued unaffected by emission concerns, rising to 26,800 plug-ins in 2018, up from 16,000 in 2017.

But that figure is well below what Volvo could actually sell if they didn’t have a shortage of batteries and electric motors – a common problem across the industry – but Volvo boss Hakan Samuelsson reckons Volvo is well on the way to securing the bits they need to deliver more plug-ins. And they’re going to need them.

With the new B-Badged mild hybrid Volvos on the way too, Volvo reckon sales of hybrids are set to rise substantially, with plug-in hybrid versions accounting for 25 per cent of Volvo’s sales by the end of the year. Even if incentives are removed.

In fact, according to Samuelsson, buyers of Volvo’s plug-in models buy them more for the performance than the low emissions or incentives, which does make sense.

With no big-engined Volvos anymore – they’re all 2.0 litre petrol or diesel (and not diesel either before too long) – a plug-in hybrid with its extra power is the only way to get a Volvo to really perform.

With more models, like the new S60, V60 and XC40 plug-ins, set to add to the existing plug-in offerings on the XC90, XC60, S90 and V90, plug-in sales will not just rise in percentage terms, but in volume too.