Way back in September of 2018, it was clear Volvo was heading for a record sales year. By the time November came to a close, Volvo had already surpassed its 2017 sales figures with an entire month to spare. The news just keeps getting better because with the December sales now tabulated, Volvo has announced its best sales year since the company was founded back in 1927.

Volvo sold 642,253 vehicles in 2018, an increase of 12.4% compared to 2017 when the Swedish brand moved 571,577 units. This is the fifth time in a row Volvo has set a global sales record and the first time the company has broken the 600,000 unit milestone.

Volvo's tremendous growth stems from its refreshed lineup and strong SUV portfolio. The XC60 SUV continues to be the brand's best-selling model with 189,459 units sold (up from 184,966 units in 2017). Rounding out the top three are the XC90 with 94,182 units ( up from 87,518 in 2017) sold and the V40/V40 Cross Country, which aren't offered in the US, with 77,587 units sold (down from 95,370 units in 2017).

The sub-compact XC40 also managed to sell quite well during its first 12 months on the market with 75,828 units finding new homes while, despite not having a full sales year, Volvo managed to shift 57,142 units (up from 46,602 units in 2017) of the recently-refreshed S90.

Volvo finished 2018 off strong with 60,157 cars sold in December (up 2.8% from 2017). In the US alone, Volvo sold 98,263 cars in 2018 (up 20.6% from 2017). China was also an important market for Volvo, where the Swedish automaker sold 130,593 vehicles (up from 14.1% from 2017). Europe continues to be the biggest market with 317,838 vehicles sold in 2018, though growth was slower at 6.4%.

As Volvo plans to introduce electric cars and fully autonomous vehicles, we believe the company's sales will continue to skyrocket in the months and years ahead.